Story Idea Dump
by Chirinah
Summary: My computer is getting clogged with all the unpublished and unfinished stories so...
1. Engaged to the Unidentified 1

This fic are just files I found in my computer which I abandoned long ago. I want to clear up some space, but I can't bear to part with them, so...

(She's) Engaged to the Unidentified

…at least, that's what Hikari Long, daughter of one of the heads of the mighty Triads, believes. After all, she hasn't seen nor heard of Hibari Kyouya since she was twelve. And now she's in Namimori, about to deal with a temperamental Cloud and the rest of his merry gang of misfits. Her mission: have sex with Kyouya and be pregnant with his child.

 **Pairings: (Hibari x OC) (Platonic Tsuna x Guardians) (Tsuna x Haru) (Lambo x I pin)**

 **Warnings: A bit of tweaking with the backstories and personalities of everyone. You could consider this and Alternate Universe if you like, but the focus will be mainly romance between Hikari and Kyouya.**

Prologue

" _Hikari, this is Kyouya. Kyouya, this is Hikari."_

The first thought that came to my mind when I first saw Kyouya Hibari was, 'He's pretty.'

And damn he was.

It was unusual to see gray eyes in the face of such an absolutely Asian boy, but gray eyes fit him well. It made his glare, softened by his stubby cheeks, sharper and more defined. But either way, he was such a pretty child. Pale and flawless like a doll, with a head of black hair that seemed to dance every time he shook his head in stubborn defiance to whatever it was his parents were forcing on him.

He was a pretty, pretty child. And I hated him so much.

I am the second daughter of three, and compared to the sensual charm our Mother has passed on to my elder sister and the natural cuteness of my baby sister, I was a dull pencil in the midst of a box of crayons. My Father, having no son to inherit his position had been counting on us to _catch_ wonderful spouses to lead in his stead when he dies. He had drilled it into our heads from the moment we were born.

I was sharp, however. Smarter than most kids my age and many others older than me, but as I was born a girl and average looking in a family headed by an old-fashioned fool, I was led to believe that marrying a powerful man was my only worth. I hated anyone prettier than me, because men are pigs who looked at girls and only saw dolls and trophies. I had to marry someone powerful. And I had to be pretty to do it.

I thought: If my future husband was already pretty, why would he marry me?

It was irritating, so when Kyouya glared at me, I glared back in kind, and we faced off in a round of childish staring match that the adults took as the two of us getting along, bonding. I never did understand adults.

"I hate you," were the first words we said to each other.

The next time we were introduced, it was in front of the whole three clans of the Triads.

" _Everyone, meet your future boss, Hibari Kyouya, and his future consort, Hikari Long."_

Ten years passed.

"I hear there's a new high school built in Namimori. You're going there, Hikari."

Hikari Long nodded her head without looking up from her plate. "Yes, Father."

And then she was off to Japan.

 **Namimori, Japan**

A petite young girl wearing a red traditional Chinese dress stepped out of a sleek, black limousine followed by another girl in the familiar brown uniform of the Namimori High School, designed similarly to the uniform of the Junior High Division right beside it. Both girls wore their hair in braids, except the girl in red had hers tied up in twin buns up her ears while the other let it flow down into one long plait that reached the back of her knees.

The first girl, much smaller than her companion, said in a tiny voice. "Hikari-sama, do you wish for me to accompany you?"

The other girl, Hikari, dismissed her servant with a wave of a hand. "No need, Kim. I can take care of myself." Kim bows meekly as Hikari takes a bag from another servant from inside the car and walks with sure steps to the gates.

Hibari Kyouya glanced down the window of the Reception Room, then swept out the room with a frown, his black coat billowing behind him.

(tbc)

 **A note on the OCs**

 _ **Hikari Long**_ is obviously the main character. She's Hibari Kyouya's fiancée, and daughter of a Triad Boss. Her surname is Long, and I know the Eastern System puts the surname before the given name, but 'Long Hikari' just sounds awkward and…weird. I would have used the western system on everyone too, but I get confused with Kyouya Hibari, since I hear it as Hibari Kyouya so often, so I just used the western system on Hikari, and left everyone as is.

 _ **Kim**_ is her personal servant. She won't be seen much.

 **A note on the universe**

It mainly follows canon timeline. We don't know much about Kyouya's life, so I took some (a lot) of liberties and turned him into a son of the Triad Boss who _left_ when he's still young for several reasons. Everyone else is the same, but since this is around a few months after the end of the manga…a few things will have changed. Do look out for that.

The manga ended when Tsuna is around second or third year, in Middle school, I think? He was about fourteen or fifteen then, like Yamamoto and Gokudera. Hibari would be around sixteen or seventeen. I haven't checked…anyway, here Hibari is in High School, but he still rules Nami-chuu. And all of Namimori. He's in third year, while the rest are freshmen. Hikari is a freshman also.

Triads:

Don't know much about them. Here, they're three of the strongest clans in China in an alliance. The Long, Han and Zhang. Hikari is from the Long Clan, Hibari is from the Han Clan. Every Generation, they marry their second children—not the heirs—to strengthen their alliances. Hikari and Hibari are them in this generation.


	2. Engaged to the Unidentified 2

Engaged to the Unidentified 1

 **Point of view will shift between the third person's to first person every so often. First person is always Hikari unless stated otherwise.**

 **Disclaimers apply. I do not own KHR, which is entirely redundant considering this is** _ **.**_

 **Like 'fanfiction' isn't enough of an indication to what's inside here. Though if I did own KHR, you wouldn't have been left too hanging by the ending. I'd have pursued it until the one hundredth generation and Tsuna and the Tenth Gen would be immortal angels watching over them.**

 **(Got you a story idea, right there.)**

Chapter One: The transfer student from China

A girl with long, dark hair braided down her back approached a teacher walking from his class, and said politely, in a voice that gave no hint at all of her foreign ancestry, "Sir, I'm sorry for the trouble, but could you possibly show me where the Registrar's Office is at?"

The man, a Mathematics teacher called Mr. Kurenai, blinked once behind his thin-rimmed glasses before giving an amiable smile. "Oh, sure," he said cheerfully, motioning for the girl to follow him. "Are you the transfer student?"

The girl gave a little nod. "Yes, sir. My name is Hikari Long. I'm a freshman."

Mr. Kurenai's eyes widened. "You're Chinese? I never would have thought. You look so much like a Japanese. And you speak very well."

Hikari smiled politely. "I'm a half-Japanese. I got most of my looks from my Mother, who taught me her language when I was very young."

"Oh, well, then I hope you find your time here pleasurable and enlightening," he said brightly, turning a corner. "Here is the Office," he pointed at a wide oak door labeled 'Registration'. "I still have another class, so I'm afraid I can't accompany you any longer. But I hope to see you around, Long-san."

He left, giving Hikari one final smile which Hikari returned gratefully. " _Arigatou-gozaimasu."_

Yamamoto Takeshi was rushing to his next class from the Kendo Dojo after his conversation with their coach and trainer, when one of the teachers coming out of an office approached him, ordering him to take 'Ms. Hikari Long' to class with him, because she's 'a freshman transferee who doesn't know her way around'. He would have argued that he, too, was a freshman and barely knew his way back to his classroom, but the teacher didn't give him time to speak, turning back into the air-conditioned office after giving his piece.

He looked at the girl, smiling brightly if a bit sheepishly. "Hi, my name is Yamamoto Takeshi. From class 1-B. Nice to meet you!"

The girl bowed slightly. "My name is Hikari Long. I'm told my class is also 1-B. It's nice to meet you, too, Yamamoto-san."

Yamamoto laughed, surprised but delighted. He liked people, making friends. And his motto in life is the ever positive, 'the more, the merrier'. "Really? That's great. I'm also a freshman and this building is new so I don't really know my way around yet, but the DC always patrols the corridors for loiterers so we can just ask them for directions. They're really nice people!"

Hikari hesitated a bit, but soon followed when Yamamoto strolled off purposefully. He stopped abruptly. "Ah! Also, you can just call me Yamamoto. Yamamoto-san is my Dad." He walked off again, leaving Hikari to half-walk, half-run to keep up with his pace.

She hated his legs.

"Um, Yamamoto-kun, could you…" Hikari trailed when Yamamoto stopped again, fighting the urge to groan. She looked around him to see a huge man with a large pompadour hairstyle wearing black from head to toe in front of them, giving them an intimidating look. Hikari was used to intimidating people, she was surrounded by them almost twenty-four seven the past sixteen years, but since most of them had their eyes nearly always closed, sleeping or not, it was really hard to feel afraid of their stares.

But this…man had his eyes open.

And it was scaring her.

She grimaced inwardly. Did his Father send her guards again? She knew she wasn't the best fighter, but she believed she was strong enough to protect herself in such a small town. And anyway, this was Kyouya's turf and…

"Yo! Kusakabe-senpai!" Yamamoto greeted the man.

Hikari blinked.

"Ah, Yamamoto," said Kusakabe in a deep, groveling voice. "Who's the…"

"Ah!" Yamamoto pushed her gently forward. She didn't even notice she had stepped back in fear. _What kind of Triad daughter was she? Stepping back in the face of a man!_ But she couldn't help the fear that crawled up her spine. She had always been the coward. When she was home, it didn't show much because she knew her guards would protect her, but she didn't have guards now…Stop that, Hikari! Just moments ago you were thinking you can take care of yourself without guards. Now prove it! He's just a high school boy!

… _Right?_

"This is Hikari-chan. She's a transferee to our class. Sensei asked me to show her around, but I'm also lost." He laughed heartily. "I can't find our classroom."

Kusakabe seemed surprise, and then he gave a look of exasperation. _They seem rather close. Were they friends?_ She looked up at the tall boy beside her. He didn't seem like the type to dally with delinquents. And this Kusakabe person definitely seemed like one. (He was one, actually, before Kyouya pulled him into his budding committee right after sending him to the ICU.)

"Ah, 1-B, right? It's in the east wing, third floor."

There was silence as Kusakabe and Yamamoto stared at each other, Hikari gaping at both of them. Yamamoto still had the goofy laugh on his face, while Kusakabe remained stoic and blank.

"Um," Hikari piped in nervously after more than five minutes of the awkward stand-off. "The…class?"

"East wing. Third floor," Kusakabe reiterated slowly, like he was talking to little children. And by the innocent look on Yamamoto's face and the confusion on Hikari's, he might as well be.

Yamamoto blinked. "Where's the east wing?"

Hikari could have face-palmed right there, but she was interrupted by a loud yell across the corridor.

"Oy, Baseball-freak! What's taking you so long? Jyuudaime's—"a silver-haired guy with European features and bright green eyes that reminded Hikari of the wolf that nearly ate her when she was thirteen and lost in the woods during her training bounded off to them, yelling profanities every other word. Beside him was a tiny brunet whose hair seemed to stick up in all directions, sweating and out of breath from running.

"Ya-yamamoto-kun," the brunet said between breaths. "Are you alright? Did anything happen?"

Yamamoto looked at them with an even brighter smile. "Ah, Gokudera, Tsuna. Nothing bad happened, I was just lost. Sorry for worrying you."

The brunet slumped in relief while the silver-haired screamed out even more profanities. Hikari stepped back, astounded. Why did she feel like this place was more dangerous than China? It was supposed to be just a peaceful old town!

She was considering running for it when she felt a warm hand on her elbow, pulling her towards the new faces. Yamamoto put her in front of the still swearing boy and the now somewhat calm brunet like an offering. "This is Hikari-chan. She's a transferee. Sensei asked me to show her around, but I was lost so we just wandered until we ran into Kusakabe here—"a nod to the brooding man"—he was telling us the directions when you came. He said east wing, did you know where the east wing is?"

The brunet's face looked torn between exasperation and amusement. The silver one was simply irritated. "It's certainly not here, you idiot!" he yelled, pulling out a cigarette and huffing on it. Hikari's eyes bulged.

"Um," she tried calling their attention, but it was either her voice was too small or they simply didn't care if there was someone between them while they had their banter. She was getting uncomfortable with the smoke wafting to her face from the other's cigarette.

Luckily, the brunet seemed to have taken pity on her. He pulled her away from Yamamoto who hardly seemed to notice with surprisingly strong hands. He smiled down—he was taller than her, which was surprising since he seemed so fragile from a distance—at Hikari and said kindly, "Sorry about that. They can get really…"he tilted his head as he thought of a perfect word. Hikari blushed. He was…cute. "Engrossed, I guess, in their fights."

"Oh," was all she could mutter.

Tsuna laughed. It was a soothing sound, one that was rarely heard in her parts of the world. There, laughter was a weapon meant to mock, hurt, destroy… He said, "My name is Tsuna, by the way. Sawada Tsunayoshi. That," he pointed to the silver-head who was now being restrained by Kusakabe—he was still there?—while trying to claw at a laughing Yamamoto, "is Gokudera Hayato. He's pretty…explosive," he smiled like he was enjoying an inside joke. "But he's a good person. And Yamamoto is his friend, I think."

"Huh," was her intelligent reply. She cleared her throat at his intense stare, still blushing to the roots of her hair. _Hikari, you have a fiancé!_ "Um, don't we need to get to class?"

Tsuna widened his eyes as if surprised. He thumped his head loudly. "Ah, right, I forgot!" _Who forgets that?_ "We were so worried about Yamamoto we ran off in the middle of class!"

Hikari blinked dumbly as Tsuna scampered to help Kusakabe stop Gokudera from mauling Yamamoto and lead them both to class. They walked off after telling Hikari to hurry after them.

Hikari was shaking her head as she tried to keep up with the boys. _This place is weird,_ she thought. And then she felt the corners of her lips lift up in a smile. _But it's kinda fun._

 _No wonder Kyouya likes here very much._

Kusakabe watched with a slight smile as the four ran off. He knew it was against the rules to run in the corridors, but he thought he could give them some slack this time. Especially Sawada. He couldn't imagine how the tiny boy managed his chaotic acquaintances on a daily basis. Just Kyou-san was enough of a pain on a good day. How hard could dealing with Kyouya and _everyone else_ be?

Speaking of Kyou-san, though… Kusakabe should really give his report now.

And that transfer student… Was it a coincidence that her last name was the same as the group that comprised a third of the Triads? Considering everything that happened the past few years, he seriously doubted he'd be surprised if she really was a part of the Triads. But Kyou-san…

 _He won't be happy,_ he thought. But then again, when was he?

They reached the classroom just as everyone was filing out to go the locker room and change for the P.E. class. Hikari flustered as she felt the stares on her as she panted alongside Tsuna. Yamamoto was immediately surrounded by a large group of people, putting him in a human cocoon. Hikari was surprised, she didn't think he would be so popular, while Gokudera just glared at anyone who dared to approach, staying close to Tsuna at all times.

The teacher was long gone when they came, so Tsuna led her to the girl's locker rooms after answering a quick call from his phone that left him quite frantic. He waved to a girl with short orange hair who was talking to a taller girl with dark hair falling in waves down her shoulders, calling them "Kyoko-chan, Hana-san," in a slightly panicked voice.

He hastily introduced the girls to each other and asked, kindly, that Kyoko and Hana take care of _her._ Hikari wasn't sure how she felt about that—she could take care of herself, yes, she could—but she easily found herself getting comfortable around the bubbly girl and her sarcastic companion as Tsuna and his friends ran off to God knows where.

 _What are you doing?_ A part of her brain, the part that lived within the dark world of the underground, chastised. _They could be enemies!_ But the part of her that was a simple-hearted sixteen year old living her first day in high school argued just as vehemently, _they're nice people! And they're just high school girls!_

They came to the locker room where Kyoko and Hana introduced her to a handful more people who eagerly asked her questions. _How big is China? Is it true that everyone there knows martial arts? How do you take care of your hair? It's so long! And your eyes are so pretty, did you get them from your Mom or Dad?_

She couldn't answer most of them, but she quickly found out they were more interested in _asking_ than actually getting answers.

And then someone asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing to look at her. Even Kyoko and Hana seemed expectant, though Hana seemed more concerned about her being infected by monkeys—whatever that meant—than actually interested about her love life.

Hikari blushed, remembering the entire reason she was here.

' _ **Tell him it's about time to return to the nest.'**_

"Um," she said, "I'm engaged."

Gasps and squeals resounded inside the locker room. "Oh, my gosh! Who is it?"

She smiled innocently, completely unaware of the chaos she was about to unleash as she said the next words out loud. "Hibari Kyouya."

"Kyou-san, there was a transferee today. She seemed to have come from China. Her name was Hikari Long. Do you—"

Right after the name was said, Hibari Kyouya was darting out the door, teeth gritted in a snarl, gray eyes bright and shining. If Kusakabe didn't know any batter, he could have sworn that was a smile on the skylark's face.

"—know her?"

But it couldn't be, could it?

There was a loud 'bang!', and then _the_ Hibari Kyouya came bounding inside, as though summoned by the mysterious transferees words. His sharp glare made unfroze everyone who had been previously frozen by Hikari's words. They scampered to the corners, not daring to approach the sweet exit that was now being blocked by the Demon of Namimori himself.

"You," he said, looking about ready to murder everyone in the room, focusing at the braided girl who, to everyone's astonishment, smiled more brightly than she had in all times before.

"Kyouya!" she exclaimed, running to wrap her pale arms around his neck, catching him—and everyone else—off guard.

They toppled down as Kyouya made a move to push her off—or was it to catch her?—and fell on a tangled heap of black coats, black hairs and towels on the floor.

Hana took her phone out and snapped a photo of the spectacle, smirking to herself.

People rushed from the neighboring rooms, students clawing out of their classrooms to see what the commotion was about, teachers trying to maintain a semblance of order and the DC members telling them all to _get back where they came from._

Kusakabe watched everything with conflicting feelings. Was he supposed to feel amused? Offended that his Captain was tackled like that? Irritated at the nosy students? Angry at the useless teachers?

Or was he supposed to feel happy, because here was a girl who _Hibari Kyouya_ allowed to tackle him to the ground—because she was definitely not strong enough to manage that, even with the element of surprise—who might just be the person who could bring his humanity, his happiness, back? He was pretty sure now that Kyou-san was smiling.

 _Well,_ he thought, turning to the crowding students. _First things first._

"Crowding is against the rules," he boomed.

 _Though,_ he thought, sparing a glance at the still tangled pair, eyes landing on the prefect's hands that seemed to clutch firmly but gently on the girl's shoulders, pushing her off with barely enough force, _she may just be the one who takes it away completely._

Hibari Kyouya definitely knew the name Hikari Long. It was impossible for him not to, considering his Mother just about drilled it into his head when he was younger and still under her control. She was the girl he was supposed to marry. The middle child of the Long Clan, just like he was the middle child of the Han Clan.

She was also the reason behind his first kill. And the second, and the third… Huh. Now that he thought about it, every single time he killed someone, it was related to her, one way or another.

 _His hands were on the older man's throat, choking the life out of him, pressing deeper and deeper, tighter and tighter as his blood pounded against his ears, his eyes wide and unseeing. Somewhere, he heard a scream…_

Hibari wasn't the immediate heir, which was the reason her parents didn't fight him too hard on his decision to leave the country and reside in a small town in Japan. If he was, they would have fought tooth and nail against each other until they had Kyouya safely locked away on his metaphorical throne. His brother, Hao Chen, was older than him by ten years, and was ready to take over when Hibari was eight years old, so there was not much issue if the middle child left.

And leave he did. He hadn't seen or heard of China and their ridiculous clans since he was fourteen and well established in Namimori.

He had sworn he would never get back there _ever again_ if it meant _never_ seeing her again.

And now she was here _. Goddamn her._

Hibari dragged _her_ none-too-gently to the Reception Room, throwing her to one of the couches and slamming the door shut behind him. She was wide eyed, and her hands trembled on her lap. Hibari could _almost_ taste her fear in the air. It was palpable. She made a good show of being 'adorable' outside, but now that they were alone, she was cornered prey in front of a hungry, hungry predator.

Hibari didn't make the mistake of thinking she was easy prey, however.

"Speak. Now," Hibari ordered, stalking around the room slowly. Hikari saw a glimpse of silver from under his sleeves. His tonfas, poised to come out at the first mistake.

Hikari wanted to pout. Was this how he was supposed to greet his fiancée who he hadn't seen for almost four years? But she reigned the urge in, because she knew how Kyouya hated such childish acts. He hated childishness even on a child when he was a child.

"Are you…going to hurt me?" she said, apprehensive and just a bit hurt. It's not like the two of them were really close, but she had thought they had bonded enough for her not to be on the Disliked and To Be Bitten List.

She was even the one who gave it that name!

She gulped when his glare intensified, but calmed down when he said nothing. He was waiting for an explanation. She supposed it was only fair. She doubted he expected his former fiancée to come over to Namimori just for the sights.

"Well, I know the marriage contract was supposed to be nulled now that you're no longer part of the Clan, but your Mother and Father has come to an agreement to, uh, reinstate you as Han Clan's son," she looked away, uncomfortable under his intense scrutiny. She felt like she was naked under a blizzard. Brrr. "Um, I'm not sure if you know, but your brother had been…kinda disowned a few months back."

Hibari didn't ask, but she knew she had to tell him why. She gulped. "Well, he…uh—"

"Stop stuttering," he ordered.

Hikari nearly fell off the couch in fright. "Ah, yes, sir!" she yelled, out of habit. Flustered, she cleared her throat, keeping her gaze stolidly on her toes. "Well, as I said, your elder brother was disowned and your younger brother is nowhere to be found, so your Mother had no choice but to reinstate your position."

Hibari narrowed his eyes. "Why is he disowned?" he finally voiced.

Hikari tensed. "He, uh," she took a deep breath. Looked into his eyes. "He did something bad."

Hibari just raised his brows. "The entirety of the Triads lives on 'bad'."

"Yeah, well, he broke the rules…" she trailed, feeling sick. She rubbed her chest through her clothes, trying to sooth the rising bile back down. She didn't like talking about _him._ It made unwanted memories surface to the forefront of her mind when she only wanted it to remain buried deep, deep down.

She had been doing a good job at forgetting it too. Forgetting his callused hands roaming her body, pinning her down…his mouth on places she didn't want anyone to touch.

She closed her eyes tightly. He said, "Did he touch you?" She wasn't surprised at the simmering anger she found in his voice. He was always so…

But she shook her head, eyes wide. Forced a smile. "No, not—not really. He was married to a daughter of the Prime Minister, and he was…very rough on her. The Prime Minister found out and demanded compensation. He's under his custody, now. But his offense was actually that he was found to have been selling land to one of the enemy clans…"

Hibari seemed to not hear the rest of what she said. "But he _touched_ you?" he said, face inches away from hers. She didn't even notice him move.

She nodded, tongue-tied. Her eyes were fixed onto his blue-gray eyes, dark like a storm cloud just before the rain fell.

She gasped, enticed. She always did so love his eyes.

Hibari sighed, his lashes fluttering down across his cheeks as his breath brushed against Hikari's face.

"You're so troublesome," he said, pulling away to glare down at her.

She frowned. She was having a hard time following his frequent mood swings. "What?"

He ignored her in favor of pulling out a sleek black phone from his jacket. The call was answered within the first ring. "Get me information on Han Jian. I want his location ASAP."

He hung up without waiting for an answer. Took her hand and dragged her out. "Get to class," he said. "I'll have someone fetch you after school. Then we'll talk some more about your business here." He gave her an evil, evil smirk. "You should be proud. Someone's going to die because of you today."

He shut the door on her face.

Her heart stopped.

Tsuna was skipping class. He was used to doing that by now, considering all the assassins sneaking in Namimori all year-round and the increasing amount of training Reborn was putting him through. Even though Hibari's Foundation took care of most of the hired guns, there were some strong ones that even the prefect's monstrous committee couldn't handle.

This one, for example.

The man, who was looking like a neat businessman just minutes ago was now tied down and gagged by a sun-flame enforced rope and a special tape Spanner made that had some sort of password before it could be removed. He had any number of bruises all over his body, courtesy of Yamamoto's sword and Gokudera's bombs. He was an illusionist who used Mist Flames to supply his attacks. He had managed to knock out an entire squad of DC members when they arrived after a frantic call from one of their leaders. Tsuna had sat back to watch the whole thing on the sidelines, and was even slightly impressed with the illusionist's attacks. It was very…creative. But he was no Mukuro, or even Chrome, with whom the three of them fought regularly to increase their immunity towards illusions.

As Gokudera and Yamamoto interrogated the man, Tsuna thought back to the transfer student today. She seemed nice enough, but some part of him told him to be wary _around_ her. _She_ didn't feel dangerous at all, though it was evident from her stance and little actions that she had had at least some combat training. But there was something dangerous lurking _near_ her, Tsuna was sure.

He just didn't know what yet.

On the way back, after they had gained every information they could from the terrified man and let him leave in peace, Tsuna asked Reborn: "Do you know anything about the transfer student today?"

Yamamoto and Gokudera looked at him curiously, and then at Reborn.

Reborn who had gained the ability to change between his adult self and baby self after the curse has lifted—"Perks of being sun," he had said—looked down at Tsuna from the boy's shoulders, a smirk playing on his small, pouty lips. "I do," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So," Tsuna said slowly, considering his words. "Is she in danger?"

Reborn seemed surprised for a second before his face morphed into his usual mocking face. "Well, if you consider love a sort of danger, I suppose she is."

Tsuna frowned, but didn't press. He knew Reborn would tell him everything he needed to know, but some things are better kept from others.

Maybe this was one of those things.

Hikari remembered a time where she and Kyouya were friends. They went off a bad start, yes, and they ended the worst way possible, but between this and that was a time where the two of them confided secrets to each other beneath the stars, where he held her hand while she was walking to stop her from tripping, where she cleaned his wounds after he fought in her defense, cried for him when he was hurt, screamed for him when he was mocked.

She remembered looking into gray eyes and seeing nothing but adoration mixed with fond annoyance inside.

And then she remembered the same gray eyes rimmed by blood, looking at her like she was the most despicable thing they ever saw.

And she remembered his tears. Remembered them red.

Hikari had two reasons why she was in Namimori, Japan. One was because of her duty to her family. And the other was love.

Because Hibari Kyouya may run from her, hide from her, hate her with all his might; but he wouldn't ever stop loving her too.

Because she was his friend, his entire world, _once upon a time._

She came to class still confused. _Who's going to die? And why is it my fault?_

Fortunately, Hikari came to class while the teacher was there. He was the same teacher who helped her to the Registration Office just a few hours before, Mr. Kurenai. She knocked and smiled awkwardly, expecting a scolding for being two classes late, but instead he beamed and ushered her excitedly in front of the class. Her eyes roamed and found both Kyoko and Hana, but she didn't see neither hair nor hide of Yamamoto, Gokudera and Tsuna.

Mr. Kurenai introduced her to class, most of whom had already heard of her from the fiasco in the girls' locker room. She felt a few glares, but most were looking at her with some sort of worshipping adoration. It was a good thing she was used to those types of stares, being the child of a mob boss.

"Nice to meet you," she said timidly.

"Is it true you're engaged to Hibari Kyouya?" someone said. Hikari felt slightly intimidated by their stares.

She gulped. "Ah, yeah. I am."

"How did that happen?"

"Well, our families are…close. They arranged it when we were both very young." _Before we were born, I mean. Though technically it's revoked now._

Everyone seemed to have lost their tongue from then, and they continued with the lesson with tensed silence. Hikari found it sad that her classmates seemed to have grown afraid of her, but from what she had seen and been told it really wasn't unexpected.

Kyouya was really scary. Naturally, they would defer to his fiancée also.

She was rather glad to find neither Kyoko nor Hana had avoided her, though. The two girls didn't seem deterred that she was engaged to the most frightening man in town. In fact, Kyoko was so excited you would think she was the one getting married.

"Well, we won't be married for a few years yet. I just came here because our families thought it would be prudent to let us spend time together before the actual matrimony. I haven't seen him in years," was what she said when she asked about their relationship. They really didn't have one to speak of. They used to be friends, but after all that happened, Hikari didn't think they could be any more than civil acquaintances bound by family duties.

But she was willing to try.

She loved him, after all.

True to his words, Kyouya did send someone to fetch Hikari right after her last class. She was surprised to see the huge man from before waiting for her outside the classroom, telling her to follow him, but thought it made sense that the delinquent like guy would be one of Kyouya's lieutenants. Kyouya only tolerated strong people after all.

Kusakabe led her to the now familiar Reception Room where Kyouya sat behind a paper-filled desk and then left without a word when she was safely inside.

Kyouya looked up at the sound of the door. "Sit down," he ordered quietly before getting back to signing swiftly over the mountain of documents in front of him.

Hikari obeyed like the good girl she was. She remained seated on the couch without saying anything until it was nearly dark outside. She didn't even notice she dozed off until he heard Kyouya snap at her, "Hikari, wake up."

Hibari leaned into her, his face inches from hers. Their noses were a hair's breadth from each other. Hikari sucked in a breath, seeing his eyes smoldering into hers from up close.

"Kyouya," she breathed, and all at once, he was gone. Five meters from her, seething, like she scalded him somewhat.

Pain flashed into her eyes like it always did when he pulled away from her, but it was gone in a second. He looked away. Always…she…

"I know where Han Jian is. Mother is getting him as we speak," he said.

Hikari was surprised, but merely nodded. Figures he would track his wandering brother. He was always stubborn.

"You should go back to China," he told her, eyes still on the window, watching the sunset bleed out into the sky.

"I don't want to," she said softly. She came here for a reason.

"Han Jian wasn't hard to find. He wasn't even hiding. With the Clan's resources, they would have found her sooner or later even without my help," he clenched his jaws. Glared at her. "Why are you really here?"

"I—"she breathed deep, feeling blood pounding in her head. Tears stung her eyes for no reason other than they could. It was one of the things he hated most about her. She cried so easily, for the silliest things. 

Hibari would always wonder how she could survive living with the darkest kinds of people in the world when she's…so weak.

 _So good,_ his mind supplied. _So bright._

"I came here for, for my f-fiance," she was saying. Hibari ached to touch her. Crush her against his chest, breathe in her scent... _like before._

"Your fiancé is not here," he said.

"But he is!" she insisted, staring at him with wide, brown eyes. "He-he's here!"

"You're being ridiculous. I'm not your fiancé." _Not anymore._ "And he's dead."

She blinked back at him, confused. "Who's dead?"

"Han Hao Chen."

"B-b-but—Why?" She gasped in realization. "You had him killed? But he's your brother!"

Hibari's answer was haughty. "I have no brother."

Hikari looked down. She's always known that Kyouya had no allegiance, even to his own blood…but this…

 _Someone's going to die because of you today._

Hikari's tears flowed freely. She did it again.

"How did he die?"

She did it again.

"Drowned."

She awakened a monster.

"Should I not have come here?" she asked, desperate. She loved him. She always did. But he…

"You shouldn't have," Kyouya walked across the room to stand in front of her. She raised her head to meet his gaze. "Did you think I would change?"

"It's been years."

"Yes. And I haven't stopped being a monster in all those years."

 _You made me that way, remember?_


	3. You, Me and a Pink Bazooka

You, Me and a Pink Bazooka

Post Inheritance Ceremony Arc, Pre-Representative War. Tsuna and his many travels in time, with Hibari.

Day 01: Curse of Normality

Tsuna fidgeted as he felt the menacing gaze that Hibari was pinning on him. On his right, Yamamoto was smiling as if they weren't on the verge of being bitten to death by an absolutely furious prefect while on his left Gokudera seemed torn between growling at Hibari for his audacity to make all three of them kneel, or trying to kill Yamamoto for putting himself on Tsuna's right.

He was the 'right' hand, goddamn it.

Lambo, who was the cause of all this troubles sat on Tsuna's head, munching on a piece of chocolate he pulled from his mess of a hair, jumping up and down every so often, testing Tsuna's patience.

Tsuna sighed, even as shivers rolled up his spine, both from the cold gust of wind that flew in from the open window of Namimori-chuu's Reception Room and from Hibari's intense stare. If anyone could be subjected to Hibari's stare of doom and not want to piss themselves, Tsuna wanted them in front of him. Now. He didn't think he could last any more of this scary tension.

It had been three months since they managed to save an alternate future and about three weeks since they had fought the Shimon Family after the fiasco in the Inheritance Ceremony. Things had been relatively normal for a while, but though it meant some semblance of peace to Tsuna, it also meant regular chaos—not counting the possibly life-threatening ones—occurred around him again. Because, well, he had friends now. Crazy, chaotic friends…

…Who now had more than regular bombs and swords and punches to destroy properties. Because they had Dying Will Flames to strengthen their attacks, Tsuna's friends didn't hold back into their regular destructive activities. Even Lambo, who seemed to Tsuna the most destructive of all.

Today, the cow child managed to bring down more than three quarters of the school after an extra loud rampage during his and I pin's fight in who got the final candy in the stash. Yeah, well, Hibari didn't like that and pulled a rampage of his own, destroying the rest of the school, save the Reception Room where they were now kneeling in front of the somehow undamaged prefect, sporting colorful bruises on their faces and arms and legs.

Hibari was officially number one in Tsuna's Scary People List. And that was after facing off against a raging Xanxus, psychotic Byakuran and possessed Enma. In a way, it was pretty amazing.

"A-ano, Hi-Hibari-san…" Tsuna started, feeling Lambo wriggling on his hair. He hissed to the boy, "Lambo be still!" before looking back to the prefect who was calmly leaning on his desk, most probably plotting their deaths. He gulped, "Um, how long do we—"

He was interrupted by a loud "Aha! Reborn! Lambo-san has come to kill you!"

Tsuna's eyes widened, eyes darting to the window behind Hibari, where a porcupine-dressed Reborn stood. His hands flew to his hair, trying to stop Lambo before he could lay down more damage to Hibari's beloved school. He moved too late, however. Lambo had already jumped to the air, hands waving a couple of pink grenades around, when his own hands came up.

Tsuna groaned. "Lambo, no!"

Lambo stuck his tongue out at Tsuna like the annoying child that he was. "Bwahaha, you can't catch me, Dame-Tsuna. Bleh!"

"What the—I'll blow you up, you stupid cow!" Gokudera yelled, getting to his feet and releasing his flames. Uri the cat roared from on top of Gokudera's head and started scratching his face. "Wait—Damn you, Uri!"

Lambo laughed obnoxiously. "Bwahaha! You can't hurt the Great Lambo-san! Go die!" And then he released bomb after bomb all over the place.

Tsuna paled. "Hiiiii! No! Lambo! STOP!" he screamed, catching one pink grenade thrown his way. He looked at the bomb on his hand and panicked, "Hiiiieeeee!" Out of reflex, he threw it back where it came from, hitting Lambo straight to the face. Seeing the child fall down from the impact, Tsuna's lips quivered in guilt. "Lambo—!"

But the child had already burst into tears, reaching up to pull a very familiar pink cylinder from his head. "Wait—no! No, no, no, Lambo! Don't use that!" Tsuna pleaded frantically, running to intercept the child, bumping into Yamamoto along the way, who bumped into Gokudera who tripped on a chair and made them all fall down in one tangled mess on the floor.

"Umff!" Gokudera groaned from underneath them. Tsuna quickly scampered off and moved to help Yamamoto, but that was when Reborn chose to kick the bazooka from Lambo's hands, sending it off straight into Tsuna's way.

"Oh, God, why?" was all Tsuna could mutter before he was surrounded by a cloud of pink smoke, sending him spiraling ten years into the future.

Please, not in another coffin...

There was tense silence before Gokudera chose to break it in his need to breathe. "Geroff me, you stupid baseball freak!" he yelled, trying in vain to push the tall boy off. He could blow off an entire building with his bombs, sure, but he wasn't all that strong. As embarrassing as that sounded. Yamamoto, who had been stunned frozen when the bazooka shot at Tsuna blinked back to reality and smiled sheepishly at the glaring silver-head, pushing himself off and to his feet. "Sorry," he muttered, before turning back to the now dissipating cloud of smoke.

The pair watched in baited breath as the smoke slowly vanished, revealing a tall slim man in place of the small boy they knew. They sighed in relief. They hadn't met Future-Tsuna back in the future and for months the knowledge of his death kept them up. Even knowing it was all set-up and that Tsuna was truly alive didn't let up the worry, but now that they were seeing him in the flesh, it seemed to take off a huge weight from their shoulders.

Yamamoto smiled, greeting the now older Tsuna cheerfully, "Yo, Tsuna!"

Gokudera's reaction was more on the extreme side. The smaller boy stepped in front of Yamamoto, surprising him when he looked and saw tears flowing down the usually aggressive boy's green eyes. "Tenth! You're alive!"

Future Tsuna—who Yamamoto now noticed looked incredibly feminine, especially with his long caramel hair tied in a low ponytail behind his neck—smiled, and, to everyone's surprise, ruffled Gokudera's hair. "Oh? You look kinda smaller, Hayato," he said, in a language Yamamoto only heard in the movies. And only by the goons. Or lovesick weightlifters.

"What did he say?" Yamamoto turned to the Italian in front of him, but was left gaping when he found Gokudera slumped on the floor, unconscious. "What?" he said, bewildered.

There was a thump, and he felt a now familiar weight on his shoulder. "Kid," he said. "Did you understand what he said?"

Reborn nodded, smirking inwardly. He took in Tsuna's appearance. The brunet was wearing a beyond luxurious suit in black with silver cuffs over an orange shirt. His tie was a striped orange and black, laden with diamonds in the shape of a clam. So Tsuna did become Boss. And he knows Italian. He gave himself a pat on the back. "He said Gokudera seemed smaller. He doesn't seem to realize he's in the past," he explained to Yamamoto, who nodded, looking at him weirdly.

Reborn opened his mouth to explain to his Dame-student, but he was cut short when a long silver chain erupted from the other side of the room, missing Tsuna's face by a millimeter. Hibari stood at the other end of it, eyes flashing in barely restrained anger.

"You shall all be bitten to death for destruction of property," he announced, right before pouncing onto Tsuna, his tonfas bleeding purple with Cloud flames.

"Eh?" Tsuna muttered, shocked. "Kyouya?"

Yamamoto was stupefied. Did he just call Kyouya, Kyouya?

Hibari froze for a second before attacking him again, no doubt thinking bite now, ask later. He moved faster, his blows stronger, but his attacks didn't even reach Tsuna, who was avoiding each and every one of them with remarkable ease.

Yamamoto whistled, impressed. Reborn turned up his lips smugly, offering Yamamoto a box of popcorn—where did he get those from?—which Yamamoto gladly took.

They sat back and enjoyed the show.

Tsuna was frowning. "Hmm, you're slow Kyouya. Have you been slacking?" Hibari growled and released Roll, destroying the last bit of his beloved school himself. Tsuna was still dodging gracefully. His movements were swift and flexible, like water. None of Hibari's attacks have been able to reach him. It was making the prefect angrier than he already was.

"Also, what's with those clothes? Did you go back to junior high without—me—knowing—ah!" he yelled, his eyes widening in recognition.

"About time," Reborn mumbled, munching on a handful of popcorn.

"Hmm," Yamamoto agreed.

"Were you hit by the bazooka?" Tsuna asked, ducking under Hibari's arm and stepping so he was behind the rampaging boy.

"No!" Yamamoto reacted loudly, like he would if he was watching a stupid character in a movie. He would have face-palmed if his hands weren't occupied by the popcorn and a bottle of soft drink Reborn pulled from nowhere. He tensed, noticing something. "Where's the other kid?"

As if summoned, Lambo came bounding from the floor, hands full of grenades. "Bwahaha!" he laughed, jumping on a splinter of concrete. "Lambo-san has returned! Prepare to die!"

"He's there," Reborn pointed indifferently, sipping on a drink, as Lambo started showering the world with his ridiculous grenades for the nth time that day.

"Doesn't he run out of toys?" Yamamoto asked curiously, sidestepping to avoid colliding with one of said 'toys'.

Reborn shrugged, returning his attention to the now heated Tsuna and Hibari fight. He was impressed when he found his student had pinned Hibari to the ground using his own handcuffs. Yamamoto whistled again, followed by a stunned laugh. "Whoa! Tsuna's really good! How'd he do that?"

Tsuna sighed, tilting his head to the side to let the bomb that was thrown from behind him pass by. It exploded with a bang a few meters in front of him. "—really! You should have known better than to go there on your own! I know you're strong, but that's no reason to wipe out an entire Famiglia all alone! At least bring Kusakabe with you!" he said loudly, hands over his slender hips.

Hibari glared murderously and struggled against his restraints, but to no avail. He growl, growled. Tsuna merely went on with his spiel. "And how many times do I have to tell you to stop using Roll in confined spaces? You know how destructive your pet is, and I've had enough of covering the reparation costs! Do you know how many people we could have helped from the millions I had to spend cleaning up after—"

Yamamoto couldn't keep it in. He laughed. There wasn't really anything funny with being surrounded by debris and nearly dying via a rain of grenades, not to mention his school was in ruins, but the sight of Tsuna scolding Hibari was just…

…so hilarious. So he laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed, until he choked, and then he was laughing again because maybe this was how he was going to die. Death by laughter. It was ridiculous.

"Takeshi? Reborn?" Tsuna said with a frown, just noticing the pair of them a few ways away. His eyes landed on a baby-sized Reborn. "Eh? Did you shrink? Or—oh," he muttered. His eyes came back to the restrained Hibari in front of him. Widened.

"I'm… in the past, aren't I?"

"Took you long enough," Reborn grinned, jumping from Yamamoto's shoulder to kick Tsuna at the back of his head. He landed on Tsuna's head, suddenly looking grim. "Also, it's been more than five minutes."

"Oh, you're right," Yamamoto said, walking over a still unconscious Gokudera. He stifled another laugh.

Tsuna pursed his lips in thought. It came out as a pout. An incredibly adorable pout. "Well, did Gianini of this time touch the bazooka?"

Yamamoto shrugged. Tsuna turned to Reborn. Reborn grinned.

"Oh," Tsuna gulped. "Well, I guess…I'll be here for a while." He gave an awkward laugh. "Shit."

"Why, Dame-Tsuna? Is there any problem in the future?" Reborn asked innocently.

Tsuna gave him a sideways glance. "You know, it's been a while since—"he stopped abruptly. Smiled sheepishly. "Oops. Spoilers. Haha, there's no problem, except a few small conflicts with other Famiglia. Nothing that could put Past-me in too much danger. I think," he added quietly. Then he brightened up. "On the other hand, I can get rest! I haven't slept for days because of—"he glared at the wind"—Kyouya attacking the Triglia on. His. Own. The idiot." He glared at the present Kyouya, who glared back, incredulous.

"That's so like Hibari," Yamamoto laughed. "But what's—"

Tsuna's glare turned on him. Yamamoto shrunk back. "It is, but you're no better, you—"

"Tsuna," Reborn called. "What's the Triglia?"

"They were a new Family founded just a couple years from now. They rose to power rather quickly, after discovering a new way to harness the Dying Will Flame. They got pretty arrogant, and challenged Vongola. Pissed off Kyouya," Tsuna sighed in exasperation. "The fool just wouldn't let it go unpunished, and wiped them out. All alone. He wouldn't call for back out even when he's surrounded and was even angry at me when I came to help him!" Tsuna huffed, crossing his arms with a pout. "Not that he needed help, per se…" he added, muttering.

"That's his job, you know, as the Cloud," Reborn said. Tsuna turned at him and Reborn was struck with the genuine hatred he had in his warm russet eyes.

"You keep saying that," he said quietly. "Even in the future. But I don't think you understand, Reborn. Kyouya is family. He's no Cloud, no Guardian, no shit." Yamamoto's eyes widened at the word. He had never heard Tsuna curse before. "He's family, and while I understand the importance of his role to the stability of the Family, it doesn't mean it's tolerable for him to keep putting himself in dangerous situations by himself. And you just keep on egging him on you—"he sighed, tired. "Ah, never mind, you won't listen anyway." Tsuna looked away, pouting. Reborn removed his detachable nose bubble.

"Ah, well, what are you going to do now, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked cheerfully.

Tsuna yawned, "Well, I'm going to sleep."

"But what about—"Yamamoto started, but Tsuna was already gone.

"—the school?" the tall boy looked at the unconscious bodies around his feet. He shrugged, picked up a snoring Lambo and bounded off to the Sawada Residence. "Well, they'll wake up soon enough."

Reborn grinned.

You, Me and a Pink Bazooka

Tsuna blinked as the pink smoke dissipated from around him, taking in his surroundings. He took immense joy in seeing the large space of what looked to be an office. _Not a coffin. That could only be good._ He was seated on a plush chair, in front of an ornate desk with many drawers. He frowned at the huge pile of papers on it, but gave it not a second thought. If his future self was suffering with paperwork, he'd leave him to his predicament.

Tsuna had had a taste of the hell that was 'paperwork' when Reborn had him sign a million papers on one day 'as practice'. It got so bad that Tsuna had to beg to get back to physical training, an activity which he usually despised. He still despised it, but not as much as paperwork.

He stood, eyes passing over the many portraits surrounding his—it was _his_ right?—office. There was one of him sitting alone on the same desk he previously occupied hung right behind it, in plain view of anyone who would come in. His hair was longer, and was hanging haphazardly on his shoulders. It made him look—he blanched—like a girl (a _pretty_ girl, at that) if not for his pinstripe suit that was undeniably for men. His hands rose to cup his heating cheeks. There was certainly something wrong with the world if he was blushing at seeing his own face. His _very_ feminine face, but still…

He looked at the other frames. There was one of him and his Guardians including Mukuro, each in immaculate suits, which made him smile. Hibari was there, and he wanted to know how they got him to 'crowd' with them lowly herbivores for a couple minutes of picture-taking. Then there was one of him with Fuuta, Lambo and I-pin who all looked just a few years older than their present counterparts. The two children were hanging on his shoulders while he hugged Fuuta in front of him. It looked like it was taken in front of their backyard.

There was also one with just him, Gokudera and Yamamoto wearing identical togas and holding up diplomas. _Oh, we managed to graduate._ After everything, that thought just seemed so far from his mind it didn't seem plausible. He smiled fondly at a picture of him and Chrome, who was blushing madly as he, Yamamoto and Gokudera each offered a piece of white roses to her while in the background Christmas lights lit up an elaborate floral arc with a sign that read "Happy Birthday, Chrome!'. Hmm, now there's an idea. He should really get the girl to go out more. And eat, yes, eat.

He was laughing at a picture of him and everyone wreaking havoc in some place he wasn't yet familiar with when he heard a smooth, deep voice call from the door. "What are you doing back here, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

He turned, pale. It was Ten-Years-Later-Hibari. "Uh, I was hit by the bazooka," he said dumbly.

"I see that," Hibari's face remained carefully blank. "And how long have you been here?"

He opened his mouth to speak but shut it down quickly. He paled even more. Tsuna seriously doubted his heart was even beating at this point.

Hibari sighed. "Follow me."

It was only out of pure instinct—his deeply imbued fear of Hibari—that let him move his feet and follow the prefect out.

"Um, is Byakuran—"

"Don't worry, you have no need to save the world from him again. You already did that, remember? And this is your direct future, so—"Hibari paused. "Oh, not yet. Not yet. Anyway, I don't think you'll be stuck here for very long. Maybe a few days at most. I assume your Bazooka had been touched by that ridiculous technician of yours again, that's why it's malfunctioning. He never did do anything right. Here," the older man stopped to open a wooden door, similar to the one in his office. He gestured for Tsuna to go inside.

Tsuna was still a bit dazed, but after Hibari's explanation he had somewhat gained back his breath. He really didn't want a repeat of that fiasco in the future.

But what did Hibari mean when he said that this was his 'direct future'? He really should start listening when Gokudera explained time paradox to him.

And when did Hibari become so…talkative?

Tsuna stepped inside after a particularly menacing look from Hibari, and was met with silence. And then the people inside spoke all at once.

"Tenth?"

"Eh, Tsuna? You're so small!"

"Sawada looks extremely younger!"

"Yare, yare Vongola. Did my younger self do something again?"

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to Lambo. The teenager opened his half-closed eyes all the way. "What?"

"You—"Gokudera yelled every possible curse word in the world and jumped to maul Lambo. Yamamoto laughed heartily and Ryohei tried to get Gokudera off the younger boy. He did it while yelling. Chrome met Tsuna's eyes across the room and gave him a warm smile, mouthing 'They're all idiots.' Tsuna blushed. Not to say that younger Chrome wasn't pretty, but there was something about this older Chrome that made her beauty even more…substantial. Like it simply oozed from deep under her creamy white skin.

Maybe it was her confidence, her sureness in herself that showed in the way she carried herself inside that obviously expensive suit. Chrome of ten years before definitely didn't have much of that. Though she was slowly growing it.

"Silence," Hibari ordered. Gokudera gave him a dirty look but complied anyway. Lambo sighed in relief.

Hibari looked around, scowled. "Where's the damn pineapple—"

"Oya, oya. I suggest you stop right there, little bird," Mukuro's velvety voice resounded in the room. Hibari looked behind him, grinned so his teeth were flashing.

"You're late," he barked, to which Mukuro merely smiled.

"Well," Mukuro's mismatched eyes landed on Tsuna as he sat on the seat beside Chrome, kissing the woman on the cheeks. "It seems our wonderful Boss is in a predicament."

Gokudera rolled his eyes and threw a cigarette that the illusionist caught deftly between his fingers. He lit it with his own flame and put it in his mouth. Tsuna blanched at the…mundane use of Dying Will Flame. He didn't know it could be used like that. Or maybe because he was always using it in a fight that it didn't occur to him. God knows his flame had burnt him enough. It could probably light a whole mountain on fire.

He blanched even more when Mukuro offered the cigarette to Hibari, and just about fainted when the prefect accepted it, and put it in his mouth. The same cigarette that Hibari was just…

Hibari huffed and blew smoke circles in front of him. He addressed everyone present. "Sawada Tsunayoshi is stuck in his ten years younger self at the moment, and we don't know when he'll be back." He looked pointedly at Gokudera. "You handle the paperwork."

Tsuna expected him to explode in anger at the order, but instead the bomber rolled his eyes. "Don't I always? You imbeciles don't have nearly enough brain cells to handle a desk job." He huffed on his own cigarette.

Yamamoto laughed. "You're the only one who likes stuff like that, even Tsuna hates it. Right Tsuna?" He winked. "He's probably taking his sweet time sleeping in the past right about now."

 _He_ wanted to be sleeping in the past right now.

"Well, if you idiots would stop destroying cities every time you go out somewhere, Boss wouldn't have had to deal with as much paperwork that he'd forego sleep," Chrome said haughtily.

"Enough," Hibari snapped. "We came here to discuss Triglia's technology, not to argue over petty differences. Let's get on with it, I'm getting sick of your faces."

Ryohei barked out a laugh. "Didn't you destroy those machines, including the entirety of that Family?"

Hibari glared at him. "Shut up."

Yamamoto hummed. "Tsuna was pretty pissed, wasn't he? Did he lecture you again?"

Gokudera rolled his eyes. "He deserved it."

'Tsuna' choked. _He?_ Lecture Hibari?

Did Future Him have a death wish or something?

Chrome rolled his eyes. "Idiots. What are we supposed to do with the destroyed machines, Kyouya? Do they have any use still?" Tsuna caught Mukuro smiling warmly at the eye-patched girl. Beneath the table, his gloved hands held Chrome's own tenderly.

Gokudera snorted. "He pulverized those shit. What use could it have other than pollute the air?"

Hibari glared some more and would have rolled his eyes if it weren't so…not Hibari-like. "I was talking about the blueprints."

Chrome sighed. "Just give it to Spanner and Shoichi, that's their job."

"Unless it's too dangerous," Yamamoto said. "Is it?"

"It functions like Sawada Tsunayoshi's Zero Point Breakthrough: Custom and has another device that fires the gathered energy like the X-Burner."

"Like Spanners Mosca?"

"Bigger."

"Mosca's pretty huge," Yamamoto frowned.

Now Chrome rolled her eyes. "How much bigger? Could it destroy the base if fired?"

"From what I saw," Hibari answered, grim, "they had it calibrated so it could absorb ten of Tsunayoshi's X-Burners and fire it in succession or all at once. Fired all at once, it could probably take out Varia HQ." He shrugged. "As much as i would like to see that, my ears have had enough of Sawada Tsunayoshi's nagging."

Silence. "Oh."

Tsuna gaped.

Gokudera was impressed. "That's pretty good stuff. Could be useful. May I see the blueprints? I'll see what improvements we can make."

Hibari took a roll of paper from inside his coat. Threw it to Gokudera.

"How did you manage to destroy it if it absorbed flame, anyway?" Ryohei asked, looking over Gokudera's shoulders to see the blueprints.

Hibari gave him a coy look. "I don't need flames to bite idiots to death."

Ryohei looked contemplative. Strange, coming from _his_ face. "Well, I do remember you taking out Mosca back in middle school."

"Um," Tsuna piped in. Yamamoto smiled at him. "Don't worry, Tsuna, you won't have to deal with this until a few years, at least. Maybe you should rest, you look tired. Hibari?"

Hibari nodded at the swordsman, pushed Tsuna out. "I'll take him."

"Uh, b-b-but—"

"Bye, Tenth!"

"See you, Sawada!"

"It was nice to see you, Boss."

" _Ja na,_ Tsuna."

Bam!

Tsuna found himself ushered inside a large room with a large, circular bed. It was like one of those royal beds you saw on TV. With a freaking chandelier on top. Tsuna's vision blurred. "Is-is this m-my room?"

Hibari nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed, taking off his coat. "It's mine."

Tsuna frowned. "So, it's not mine?"

Hibari smiled slightly. "It's yours too."

The brunet blinked. "So… it's yours, b-b-but it's m-m-mine, too?"

Hibari leaned back, but before he could confirm what Tsuna's mind had been denying, a cloud of smoke covered his body, and replaced him with his younger self…

…who looked frozen in time, his silver eyes wide open in horror.

Which completely horrified Tsuna.

Like, what kind of hell could make Hibari show that face? What happened in the few hours he was gone?

"Damn," Hibari cursed.

 _Damn's right, alright,_ Tsuna thought, before he was sent spiraling back in time.

You, Me and a Pink Bazooka 2

Tsuna was asleep the moment his back touched his bed. It was small, and didn't quite fit his longer frame, but it was a bed nonetheless. So he slept. Impervious to the series of chaotic events brewing around him.

Hibari Kyouya woke up in the middle of the ruins of his school, a boy with messy dark hair and cow suit was picking on his nose right above him. He frowned.

"Arara? You're not dead?" Lambo said, wiping his fingers on the back of his cow suit.

Hibari grimaced. "Did nobody teach you any manners?" he asked, and gingerly picked himself up. His whole body was sore, courtesy of the one-sided fight with the older omnivore earlier on. Or yesterday, he amended looking at the now bright sky.

He looked around him with distaste, thinking up any number of ways to get the government to cough up money for rebuilding. His mind quickly came to one conclusion: torture. Worked like a charm. Every damn time.

He felt something wriggling by his feet. The cow child was digging up something from beneath his shoes. Hibari stepped back.

"Aha!" Lambo yelled in victory, holding up a piece of bright pink lollipop. He would have looked adorable if he wasn't so dirty. Hibari sighed, pulled a handkerchief from his pockets and wiped the child's face. There. He looked better.

Lambo looked at him with bright, shining eyes. "Do you want to be Lambo's servant?"

"I answer to no one but myself," Hibari answered, shrugging on his coat which he found on the ground. He turned to leave.

Lambo jumped on his shoulders.

Hibari's veins ticked. "Get off me, little one."

"Ne, ne, ne. Do you want to be Lambo's servant?" Lambo said messing with Hibari's hair. Fortunately, his was the type of hair that doesn't get tangled, and was easily fixed.

Hibari scowled. "No."

But Lambo was persistent. He climbed up to Hibari's head and started playing with his face.

"You're my servant now! Say Lambo-sama! Bwahaha!" he yelled obnoxiously, pulling on Hibari's cheeks.

It was a good thing for Lambo that he was a child.

Hibari took a shuddering breath, reigning in his instinct to bite whoever was making fun of him. "Get. Off. Me," he said slowly.

Lambo, being Lambo, didn't listen.

Hibari gritted his teeth and pulled Lambo from his head, as gently as he could. Unfortunately for Lambo, his definition of gentle wasn't quite 'gentle' in the normal sense.

There was a crack, and then there was a loud cry as Hibari stood stupefied by the fact that he just hurt a baby.

You know what happened next.

Ten years later Hibari opened his eyes to see a bawling child covered in dirt and snoot in front of him. Lambo, he recognized by the child's trademark hair. It would be years before the child would cut his hair to an acceptable length. And even then, it was/would be an accident.

He smiled and gently, gently picked up the child, pulling him to his chest while making hushing noises no one would ever believe he was capable of making. Lambo leaned into him and was asleep in seconds.

Now, what to do. He looked around and grimaced at what he saw. Inwardly, anyway. To any outsiders, his face was the same blank one he had since he was born. Hibari decided he should probably find the omnivore first. Maybe he could make him pay for the damages in his school. No one could build a school faster than Vongola, after all.

He walked the way to Sawada Tsunayoshi's house. After everything, the way to the house was as familiar to him as his own residence. And he was positive he would find his omnivore there, considering his apparent dislike for using money on what he deemed 'frivolous necessities'. He wouldn't even open his wallet to pay for a hotel. Or a new phone. Not that he had to, of course. Those things came to him free. (He hated that too. Hibari didn't understand him.)

He reached the gate and entered without pressing the doorbell. He knew for a fact that no one bothered locking the gate—or the door—in this house and he didn't see the need of knocking when he knew he was welcome. Everyone was.

He made his way to the stairs, ignoring the wide eyed stares of the three idiotic herbivores in the living room.

"Was that…"

"Hibari?!"

"Oi! It's Future Hibari to the extreme!"

Hibari shook his head. The idiots never change. So loud.

He went inside the omnivore's room to find him hunched up on his bed, way too small for his height, fast asleep. His eyes were half-open, a habit he got from years of being trained by Reborn, though he didn't know it.

Hibari gave a fond smile before laying Lambo beside the sleeping Tsuna, who stirred at the movement. Tsuna stretched, and opened his eyes—fully. It widened at the sight of him. "Kyouya? Am I back or were you sent to—"

"The past," Hibari finished.

"Oh," Tsuna mumbled, laying back to sleep some more. "Just…wake me when…"

And he was out.

Hibari would have rolled his eyes if it wasn't so out of character. Instead, he leaned on the wall and was asleep in seconds. The 'three idiots' found him like that, standing like a sentinel with eyes closed by the door. Reborn promptly kicked them out—literally—before they could disturb their sleep.

Tsuna woke up before him, and Hibari was woken up by his hand touching his face. "Hey," Tsuna said, smiling.

Hibari smiled back. Just a bit. "Your past self was hilarious."

Tsuna scowled, accusing, though he didn't remove his hand on Hibari's cheek. "Did you do anything to me?"

"No," Hibari leaned on Tsuna's hand. Smiled deviously. "I think he may be a bit…confused on our relationships though."

"…"

"Mukuro offered me a cigarette. He nearly fainted."

Tsuna sighed, leaning to Hibari's neck. "That was mean. I was so scared of you and Mukuro then. You were always fighting."

"We still are."

Tsuna rolled his eyes. "Not as much as before."

"Hmm," Hibari hummed, looking at Tsuna's lips. He leaned forward so their forehead were touching, his dark hair melding with Tsuna's own brown locks. "You think the three idiots behind the door would faint if I kissed you?"

Tsuna was across the room in a flash. "Don't you dare! It was bad enough that you—"

A loud bang was heard as the door toppled from the weight of Yamamoto, Gokudera and Ryohei who were leaning on it.

Tsuna's face reddened. "I-I-it's n-n-not what y-you're t-t-thinking! We aren't—we aren't l-l-like that! K-K-Kyouya was just—"

"Tenth!" Gokudera recovered fastest, lighting up his Vongola Gear. "Is this guy harassing you? I'll blow him up!"

"No! No, not in the house, Hayato!" Tsuna scampered to move between the furious Hayato and the mildly amused Kyouya, who was watching them all with a smug air while leaning on the wall.

Yamamoto was frowning for once. "Eh, Tsuna, are you sure…"

"No!" Tsuna yelled. "I—I mean, Kyouya was just joking. He wouldn't—wouldn't really kiss me." He widened his eyes at the man. "R—right?"

Kyouya merely shrugged.

"Kyouya!"

"You—!# $%&," Tsuna flinched at Gokudera's outburst. He was sure he used every language imaginable, which was pretty amazing, but little Lambo was looking at them innocently while sucking on a lollipop wrapped in bandages—wait, what?

"Lambo! What happened to you?" Tsuna kneeled in front of the child.

Lambo looked at him with innocently bright eyes. "Crack," he said.

Tsuna frowned. "What? Did someone hurt you?"

There was a choking sound behind him and Tsuna whipped around so fast he hurt his face. He glared. Kyouya seemed interested on the cracks on the walls.

Tsuna glared some more.

Kyouya pouted, ever so slightly, "It was…an accident."

Tsuna's eyes were lasers on Kyouya's face.

"Well, I—I wasn't still in control of my strength then, okay? Why did you think I use tonfas?"

"To make the pain last longer?" Tsuna answered sarcastically.

Kyouya shrugged. "Yeah, but also because I didn't want my DNA on corpses in case they really die by my hands. As you know, I'm kind of strong."

Understatement of the century.

Tsuna sighed. "Are you ok, Lambo?" he said, gently brushing the curls on the child's head. He scowled when his hand got stuck on it.

"Um, guys…" he called tentatively. Gokudera was by his side in seconds. "Yes, Tenth? Do you need me to dispose—"

"No! Uh, I mean, my hand…it's, kinda stuck?"

Yamamoto nearly had a heart attack when Future—Hibari laughed.

He laughed.

Seriously, he did.

And then, poof! Past Tsuna—or present, in this case—came out of ball of pink smoke, screaming.

Well, who wouldn't when the first thing he hears when he gets back to his own time period if the sound of his most feared man's laughter?

It…really wasn't Hibari's fault though, Gokudera-kun.


	4. All the Damn Cliche

All the Damn Cliché

Time travel. Evil twin. School trips. What more could you ask for? All the Damn clichés are here!

Prologue

Everything in Tsuna's life started with a bang. Sometimes it was the 'bang' of his head bouncing off the stairs as he stumbled down in a lousy effort to get to school on time, only to see a two-feet tall hitman baby telling him he was about to go to hell via front seat, as the up and coming Tenth Boss of the strongest, biggest, most influential Mafia Famiglia in the world.

Sometimes it was the 'bang' of a bullet fired from a green gun barreling through his skull, killing him and resurrecting him just to rob him of his clothes—save his ridiculous fish boxers—and make him run around town (almost) naked confessing to the cutest girl in the world (then), putting out dynamites, jumping off roofs, and/or digging up half a century old time capsules from the school grounds.

Sometimes it was the bang of tiny shoes at the back of his head telling him to man up and go save a stranger he met just yesterday who was kidnapped by an ex-con strong enough to knock out the most feared man in all of his thirteen year old life: Hibari Kyoya.

Often, it was the 'bang' of a tonfa.

Sometimes, he was being hit by a bazooka, sending him to the future and back with multiple bangs.

Most of the time, the bangs are accompanied by pain: to his head, to his side, down his arms, all over his body, inside his heart—but he wouldn't give a moment of it back for anything. Before the 'bangs' happened, his life was nothing worth living for. If he was honest with himself, he would admit he quite liked those 'bangs'.

But not this one.

Definitely _not_ this one.

"Lambo—!" A choked cry. A cloud of pink smoke erupted around him just as he watched a small silver bullet—slowed down through his hazed vision—whizz past him and through the youngest Guardian's right shoulder, spurting blood down his white cow suit. He saw the twenty year old widen his eyes, even his perpetually closed left eye, turning to look at his boss, his brother before painfully reaching to his head and letting one ferocious yell along with a rain of green thunder flames, burning half of the enemies in a single shot.

And then he fell down, down, down, and Tsuna was too far, too surrounded to catch him in time. He yelled one last time, in anger, fury and desperation before he saw the familiar pink apparatus barreling towards him, engulfing him in a cloud of cherry dust before he succumbed to the darkness.

When he opened his eyes next, it was to gasp for air like he was just drowning, being clenched by his crying Mother, who kept on calling his name over and over and over, like she was afraid if she stopped, something bad would happen. And then there was his Father, who he didn't remember being that young, or neat-looking. He was looking at Tsuna like he just ate his favorite cake in front of him while he looked on through a mountain of paperwork. The door opened and—wait, what?

Tsuna's eyes looked from his young Dad to the man that just entered the room.

He frowned and said, "Dad?" not quite sure who he was talking to. "Why are there…two of you?"

The young Dad scoffed while the old Dad simply smiled sheepishly.

" _Baka,"_ the young Dad said. "I'm your twin, not your Father."

And there's that bang again, signifying a Tsuna that just fell down the hospital bed.

 _God damn it._ All the Damn Cliché 2

Tsuna looked at his thirteen year old reflection looking back at him from the bathroom window. Outside, his Mother was being calmed by his surprisingly calm Father, while his brother sulked at one corner, chewing on a gum. No one spoke.

Tsuna met his thirteen year old self's eyes.

Well, fuck, he thought.

"Why am I in a hospital?" was his first words once out of his fort—bathroom.

His Mother frowned. "Don't you remember? You got run over by a truck. It's a miracle you're even alive!" She made it sound like that was a bad thing.

Tsuna was tongue-tied. He was incredibly confused and the fact that his Mother wasn't acting her usual bubbly and stupid self didn't help matters. The fact that he was thirteen and apparently had a twin who might as well be a clone of his Father didn't help matters, for that matter.

"Oh," he said. In the back of his mind, he is panicking, worried sick of his Guardians, his Family. What happened to them? Were they still alive? Why the hell am I thirteen? He knew he was hit by the Ten-Year Bazooka, which had been improved and experimented on by Spanner and Shoichi over the years. He knew he was in the past, probably in some parallel universe where he, apparently, had a twin and a halfway decent Father. Oh, and less bubbly Mother. He wasn't sure how to feel about that last one. He decided to ignore it altogether.

He couldn't understand why he was thirteen. Why not fifteen? Or twenty? It had been close to fifteen years since he felt this…small. He clutched his thin arm through the large hospital gown. God, was he this scrawny when he was thirteen? He winced inwardly. No wonder Reborn was so keen on making me train back then.

"Tsunayoshi," his Father said, uncharacteristically serious. Tsuna had been averting his eyes from him because the sight of his Father in a neat, crisp suit just didn't fit. It was even weirder than hit man babies in his dictionary. And hit man babies are pretty damn weird if you asked him. But he had years to get used to Reborn and the other Arcobaleno, but in all his years as Vongola Decimo, he had never seen his Father look like a respectable person, so yeah. He was weirded out.

Add the fact that his Father just called him Tsunayoshi in a no nonsense voice…well, Tsuna freaked out.

For the second time that day, Tsuna fell off the bed.

"Tsu-kun!" his Mother cried out.

"Uh, I'm, well, not really fine but…" he mumbled pulling himself up. It didn't escape him that none of his 'family' moved an inch to help him. He had been so used to the constant fussing of his Guardians that he felt dumbfounded for a moment. "Um," he said, just to cut the silence when no one spoke.

His Father cleared his throat. "Tsunayoshi, we're glad your fine," he started. Yeah, really? Kinda hard to believe. "The doctors don't seem to know what happened, and how you survived considering your heart was punctured and your lungs crushed…" Tsuna unconsciously held a hand towards his, fortunately, beating heart. "But we're glad you didn't die." His final sentence was said in such a blank tone Tsuna felt like gagging. What the hell was happening?

He held his hands together on his lap, eyes widening when he didn't feel his rings. He breathed in deeply to calm himself. Think, Tsuna. Think. A voice surfaced to his head, telling him don't trust anyone. Mind nearly completely empty, he turned to his family. "So, when can I leave?"

"Today. We'll just have the doctor sign your release papers."

As his Father turned to leave, ushering his Mother, his brother, whose name, something in his brain told him, was Touji, remained just long enough to sneer at Tsuna and mouth "Next time, I'll kill you."

Tsuna shivered even as his brain formulated a plan to make sure that did not happen.

Hibari Kyouya woke up pissed. Well, more pissed than usual. As a result, more than thirty delinquents loitering at downtown Namimori was bitten to death at the crack of dawn, and sent to the ICU of the Namimori Hospital. Kusakabe Tetsuya shook his ridiculous pompadour, sighing as he helped the injured up on the ambulance stretchers.

"What do you think happened?" a Disciplinary Committee member asked another to his side. "Do you think he had a bad dream?"

A scoff. "That's impossible. Chairman isn't afraid of anything."

Kusakabe sighed again, hauling a body and throwing it haphazardly on a stretcher. He could list at least a dozen things that terrified Hibari Kyouya.

"Everyone is afraid of something," one said wisely.

"Well, Chairman isn't all that normal, you know."

Well, can't argue that, Kusakabe thought, watching his boss glare at the sunset, blood dripping down his tonfas. His Disciplinary Committee jacket fluttered in the wind. And then he was gone.

"Come on, work faster folks. Chairman has gone on already. We need to be there when he's done." Beating up more people.

A collective sigh, and then the Disciplinary Committee worked as one to clean up the mess their wayward Committee Chairman made.

They had a car, Tsuna noticed. It was a silver Audi, if he wasn't mistaken, and instead of his Father driving, it was his thirteen year old brother who stood behind the wheels. By the end of the ride, Tsuna was definitely sure his brother didn't like him.

He fought the urge to puke and gingerly stepped out of the car.

No one spoke, and no one felt the need to assist him up the ridiculous amount of steps that lead to a hulking Voctorian Style mansion sat in the middle of nowhere—his current home, and the place his parallel-self lived in. It reminded him of the villa in Italy, the one made especially for him and his Guardians, but despite the many physical resemblance, it lacked the warmth that Tsuna had come to associate with the gigantic structure.

It didn't feel like home.

But he would take what he could get until he could make sense of the situation.

From what he could gather, he was in his parallel, thirteen year old self's body, with memories of another world's Tsuna who was twenty-eight years old. He had a brother here, a twin, one that looked eerily like his Father, and apparently wanted to kill him, for some reason. He lived in a Victorian Style mansion in the far side of Namimori, and his Mother…

Well, like everything else, she was different.

He wanted to scream whys and hows and what the fucks at the sky, to whoever it was that seemed to be playing with him, but he kept mum until he was lead into a huge double-doors in the second floor, sporting a wide king-sized bed covered in plain white sheets, surrounded by rows and rows of books, books, and…books.

Tsuna blinked. "This is…my room?" he asked the blank-faced servant that brought him there.

The graying old man nodded once, and turned to leave.

Tsuna gaped at his retreating back. "This is my room," he repeated, glancing around and wincing at the sight of books. His entire room was filled to the brim with books of all colors and sizes. He had no idea if they were there for ornament, or if his parallel self really read them. He couldn't imagine it.

He hated reading. The unfinished documents perpetually sitting on his desk was testament to that.

He shook his head. That wasn't important right now. He needed to find out what was going on, and what was happening at his world. The memory of Lambo getting shot was still fresh in his mind, and he needed to find out what happened. He needed to get back.

But, what was he doing here in the first place?

He knew that his technicians were tinkering with the bazooka a few weeks back, but he hadn't asked what they did, just that it wasn't deadly.

* * *

And that's all there is to it. Sigh.


	5. Through Hell and Back (IpinxLambo)

I really, really love Lambo and I-pin, but I dislike how Amano Akira portrayed their future selves. I mean, I-pin was basically a nerdy scholar or something (though she still kicked ass), while Lambo turned out to be some sort of a ladies man if I remember correctly. As kids, they were usually together and they seemed really close too, (though that may be just my bias view) and I don't like thinking they'd grow apart at some point.

Anyway, has anybody ever read anything about a yandere Lambo? I kinda want to see him going batshit crazy in love (preferably with I-pin). Maybe I'll turn him into one here. Hmm…

Warnings on **violence, death, cursing, and OOC stuff from everyone.**

Synopsis:

Lambo loves I-pin, and I-pin loves Lambo. For a long time, that fact is all Lambo knows, the very foundation of his identity. But he realizes one day that while his _everything_ means I-pin, for I-pin, _everything_ means something else, something he's only a small part of.

Still, it's fine. Because even if Lambo owns only a small part of I-pin, I-pin owns every bit of Lambo, and _he will_ _go through hell and back for her._

READ THIS PART THOROUGHLY, EVEN IF YOU IGNORED THE TOP NOTES. PLEASE.

I took the liberty of changing stuff from the canon. Firstly, the Arcobaleno are all adults; they aren't cursed, never been, **because the Tri-ni-Sette doesn't exist.** Accordingly, Dying Will Flames doesn't exist either. Neither does the Ten Year Bazooka. Basically, all the supernatural stuff will be replaced with, uh, other things. (Let me get back to you on that when I've settled it in my mind. Lol.)

Secondly, Tsuna and everyone else are Mafia-born or the like, and some aspects of their 'personalities' may (certainly) be altered to go with it. Thirdly, I-pin is not, I repeat, **not** Fon's apprentice. Instead, she is raised in a facility that trains child assassins. Tsuna saves her when she's five and takes her in. She's also a genius. Fourthly, Nana is an assassin. Fifthly, Lambo, is a messed up, messed up child.

 _ **I will go**_

 **THROUGH HELL AND BACK**

 _ **for you.**_

PROLOGUE

I-pin was born to death. Long before she could remember, she'd been killing people; at first, by merely slipping poison in their drinks (for who would ever think to be suspicious of a darling little girl that's barely two feet tall and had such adorable smile as she holds a drink in front of you?) and then by breaking their necks the way her Master taught her (fast, graceful and clean). An orphan, the only family she ever knew was one where days were spent training to kill and nights were spent doing the killing. Her parent was her Master, who taught her in the art of assassination and nothing more, and her siblings were emotionless robots programmed to kill, and nothing more.

When she woke up during her fifth birthday to find every single one of them dead—her siblings burnt to a crisp and her Master stabbed to the ground by a long trident held in the hand of a dark-haired boy in a bloodied mess—she didn't know what to feel. She didn't know grief. She didn't know how to mourn for people who cared so little for her, and for whom she cared none at all.

When a small, brown-haired boy with golden-amber eyes picked her up from her bed and settled her on his tiny chest, she did nothing, said nothing. She could feel his strength, can taste it in the way it coiled around him like a sleeping python just waiting for someone to slither against, feel it creeping against her skin like a warm blanket. It was…oddly comfortable. So when the small, brown-haired boy took her in his arms, she merely leaned against him and reveled in the strange warmth he engulfed her with.

He took her to a large home filled with odd people. They were loud, and rambunctious, always making a mess of everything. They were at each other's throats every single second of the day, threatening to kill each other but never meaning to.

There were more than a dozen children. Most of them around the brown-haired boy's age, each of them as unique as the next. A tiny boy with wild, curly black hair looked to be as old as her, but they were about as different as night and day. He was loud, and energetic, always yelling and crying and whining and laughing. It was a wonder how anyone put up with him. He annoyed her, with his non-existent manners and discipline, but despite the many times he nearly died by her hands, he persisted on staying near her.

It was baffling.

It was fun.

From then on, she learned many things. Love that came in many forms. Kindness and warmth. Family. Conscience. She learned to grieve the people she killed, sympathize with the people she robbed of someone they loved. She learned regret and loss, and the meaning of having something, or someone she'd be willing to die for. She learned happiness and anger, loneliness and pain.

She learned a lot of things, and then she found dreams.

Dreams of normality. Dreams of living a life without the threat of death hanging above her head every second of every day. A life where she had no use for a gun or a sword, where she could walk the streets and smile at everyone without the fear of one of them coming out to shoot her. She dreamed of going to school, like in the books she read, making friends by simply exchanging names, falling in love with a boy she bumped in a library, whose smile could take her breath away. A life where she had no need for an alibi each time she committed a crime, where she could smile amicably with the police and not cower in fear at the sight of their badges.

She wanted a life free of the guilt that was bearing down on her every day, of the disgust she felt so strongly for herself. She wanted to be free of the darkness.

She knew it was most probably impossible, but still she dreamed, not noticing the pair of pained green eyes watching her from the very darkness she wanted to forsake. Green eyes who would soon shed blood just to see her dreams come to light, even if it cost them their life.

 **Vongola Famiglia**

When she was taken to the large red mansion, I-pin was immediately taken with the lush green garden filled with a scattering of roses in a hundred different hues. She never knew she liked flowers until that moment, but the garden became her most favorite place from then on. To humor her, Tsuna let her take care of her own patch, which grew into a whole yard as she grew up.

Everything in the mansion is lovely. So lovely, in fact it was easy to forget that this was a house of killers, who hurt people for a living, and often enjoyed it. Still, it was a very nice place to grow up in, and I-pin was thankful for that and more.

There were four floors in the house, plus an attic used as storage and a basement beneath the basement used as a training ground. Every level had its own moniker from the children. The basement was 'Hell' because that was where all pain came from and the attic was 'Heaven' because that was where the _sweet stuff are._

The first floor was called 'Mare'. The sea. I-pin assumed it was because of the blue paint all around, but it turned out the reason was actually the sprinklers which often turned on due to the kids' mischief and often flooded the floor. Mare had the kitchen and dining, the living room and the 'Family Room', which was why this was the place everyone tended to 'bump' into each other and 'play'.

The second floor was called Earth. This was where the Library and the Conference Room was situated. It was the quietest place in the mansion, mainly because it was rarely used except when there were meetings. And everyone took meetings seriously, so they all behaved well during the hour-long affair. Most of the time, anyway.

The third floor was the Sky. This was the rowdiest place in the house. The Sky was where the 'Guardians' lived so there was not a single time of day that it wasn't storming or thundering in there.

The fourth floor was called Night. Here was where every kid that wasn't a Guardian roomed at. I-pin was placed here, in a room she shared with a girl called Haru. Haru was…one of the strangest people she met, and that was saying a lot considering every single person she met seemed rather strange one way or another. She liked hideous costumes, talked a lot and often spoke of herself in the third person. She was very nice to I-pin, though I-pin still got the urge to kill her sometimes.

Haru had a friend called Kyoko, who was, in her normality, even stranger in I-pin's eyes. She was always smiling and soft, which made I-pin feel weird. Neither of them were fighters, but they seemed incredibly important to the others. I-pin soon learned this was because they had talents in other areas which the boys could only dream of.

Kyoko had a brother called Ryohei, one of the Guardians. He was loud, and was incredibly obsessed with his training. Often, his yells act as the others' alarm clock during the mornings, though since he woke up at ungodly hours every single day, this often led to a brawl at the crack of dawn. His usual opponent was Kyoya, another Guardian, who always seemed like a prowling vampire to I-pin; pale skin, dark hair, and red, red lips, coupled with an arsenal of black clothes. All he needed was red eyes and fangs, but he already had that in the metaphorical sense.

Kyouya was, hands down, the strongest person in the mansion. He was also the oldest by two years, which anyone else would say a cheat, but even when he was younger, he was already ferocious, I-pin heard. He was often gone 'biting people to death' in the next town over and only back during the night to sleep and spar with Ryohei in the mornings.

Despite Kyouya's apparent strength, however, he wasn't the boss. That was Sawada Tsunayoshi, I-pin's savior who looked and acted like a harmless bunny during the day, but had inner strength that showed through every time danger was around. He was incredibly kind and forgiving, but showed no mercy to enemies who sought to harm his 'family'. Everyone seemed to look up to him, despite his deceptively fragile form and young age. Hayato, in particular, just about worshipped the boy, acting mostly like a loyal puppy dog, much to the others' amusement. He went through great lengths to make Tsuna safe, going so far as sacrificing himself for the cause.

Tsuna didn't like it, and neither did Takeshi. Takeshi was a baseball fanatic who was always smiling as bright as day. He found amusement in everything, except Gokudera's suicidal actions. He didn't believe in sacrificing life for any cause. I-Pin knew he would always protect Tsuna and everyone with his sword, but unlike Hayato, he would do it while remaining alive. Their fights were the most frequent, mainly because they were both Tsuna's best friends and were always around the boy. Tsuna was always caught in between them, and usually had to use force to break them apart, or Chrome.

Chrome was the only female Guardian. She loved magic tricks and illusions, and used them to scare the wits out of people in a daily basis. She knew just about everyone's greatest phobia, and used it to her advantage. She rarely talked, and her face was about as sweet as her voice, but the boys were all scared to death of her.

Mukuro was her twin brother, and the only person she didn't try to scare. Like her, Mukuro used magic tricks and illusions too, but he was also into martial arts. He could fight with every weapon in the armory, though he seemed to prefer the trident. He had mismatched eyes, and had the hobby of annoying Kyouya when they crossed paths.

They all treated I-Pin like a little sister when she came, and taught her several tricks in their favorite activity. Haru and Kyoko taught her the art of cooking and make-up, and before long she could parade around as anyone she liked. Chrome taught her how best to 'persuade' someone to do something, while robbing them of their wealth in the process. Mukuro, Ryohei and Takeshi took turns teaching her how to defend herself with her fists and with any weapon in hand. Hibari taught her how to intimidate people into doing your bidding with a simple look, and how to beat them up to submission when it didn't work.

They usually did this lessons with the only other kid in the house, Lambo.

Lambo was a loud, whining kid with no sense of discipline. He was always complaining, asking for candy, or treating everyone like a servant. Sometimes all at once. He was the polar opposite of the well-mannered and disciplined I-Pin. He was always getting into mischief one way or another, often dragging an unwilling I-Pin along with him. She didn't think there was a day that passed where Lambo wasn't getting beat up by someone.

I-pin took her lessons seriously, partly because she was afraid of the punishment should she mess up, but seeing Lambo always stand back up after a thump from Kyoya's tonfa or a knock from Hayato's bombs, made her think that maybe it wasn't so bad. Soon, the two of them were partners in crime, much to the others' chagrin. Her punishments were always lighter than Lambo's though, and it always made her laugh.

 _She liked this house_ , she thought.

It would take her ten years to change that thought, but when she does, it comes down like lightning upon everyone. Sharp and fast and inescapable.


	6. Which Sky

Which Sky

There's two of him. One that is like the morning sky, clear and beautiful and so, so bright. Another that is like the night sky, cold and dark and filled with mystery. They are both skies, but only one is needed. Only one can be the real Vongola Decimo.

But the question remains. Which?

 **Prologue**

 **Storm was pouring down** against the night, the rain so heavy it was impossible to see past a few meters ahead. If one were to step in the forest, they'd be surprised to see fog engulfing it, shielding it from the downpour. They'd be even more surprised if they stepped into the fog, for inside two people were locked in a heated battle, one using bombs to throw against his opponent while the other held a long trident, deflecting each dynamite thrown his way with remarkable ease.

A cold, deep chuckle resounded in the forest before one man stepped out from the behind a tree to reveal a tall guy with long black hair tied in a low ponytail styled distinctly with three prongs upwards. He twirled his trident to deflect another barrage of dynamites, sending them back to their owner who sidestepped and jumped back just in time to miss the explosions. Silver hair danced in the wind as he crouched to the ground, panting heavily.

The black-haired man spoke in a haunting baritone, "Enough, Gokudera Hayato. I did not come here to fight you." He chuckled, but it was clear from the strain in his voice that he wasn't amused.

Gokudera Hayato narrowed his jade eyes, licking his broken lip. They had been fighting for a while. Around an hour or so, ever since the suspicious man approached him while he was training. He was tired. Incredibly so. He hadn't eaten in days, and if the constant training hadn't depleted his energy, the ongoing fight sure did. His muscles were starting to numb, from both the rain and the blows to his nerves, but while he couldn't feel any pain, he knew he was bleeding in different parts of his body.

 _This man is strong,_ he acknowledged. But Hayato had been training his whole life, trying to prove his worth to anyone who would bother to listen. He _wouldn't_ give up. Not here, not now.

"Never," he announced passionately before sending another barrage of dynamites to his opponent who groaned loudly in frustration.

"Kufufu, stubborn as ever," he said, crouching down low. His eyes flashed, and glowed crimson and blue. His red eye showed a kanji for a number and he grinned viciously before jumping to meet Hayato's bombs, huge vines sprouting where he put his feet on. "Fine," he said, directing the vines to the bleeding bomber who met his attack with an explosion of his own. "I still have work to do, so let's make this quick."

In a flash, trees blew up in smoke.

 _ **Sawada Residence, Namimori, Japan**_

 **Sawada Nana** hummed softly, gently stirring the pot of curry. Her son, Daiki, the younger of two, sat watching the television in the living room, occasionally laughing or groaning in accordance with the show while her older son, Tsunayoshi, washed the dishes quietly alongside her.

For twins, Daiki and Tsuna couldn't be any more different. Appearance-wise, they looked like mirror images of each other—especially on school days where they wore the same uniform—both having inherited her wayward brown hair that seemed to stick up every which way and doe-like brown eyes. They had their Father's facial structure, which made them look like European dolls when paired with their naturally white skin. Despite the obvious similarities, however, their likes, dislikes, values and interests seemed to clash as often as they did.

Daiki was an outgoing person. Ever since he and Tsuna was young, he had been the social one in the pair. He had a ton of friends in and out of school and played every available sport in the country as good as a pro. (Or, _nearly_ every one anyway. He's not that perfect.) He liked action, hotdogs and punk bands that Nana often felt trying to burst her eardrums. He was an aggressive boy with a massive stockpile of energy that he often directed to physical activities. He didn't neglect his studies, however, and was even one of the top students at school.

The only downside to him that few people could see was his nasty temper that blew up like dynamites when lit up.

Tsuna was as quiet as quiet goes.

He didn't speak, but while that was of little matter to Tsuna himself, everyone seemed to have a problem with it. He wasn't mute. Not really. Physically, there was nothing wrong with his vocal chords, but he just…didn't speak. Daiki believed he did for attention, but Nana knew it was more than that. Her sons were both brilliant children. Tsuna had no need to resort to such painstaking methods to gain anyone's attention.

He was smart, as smart as Daiki in any case, but hated going to school as much as Daiki hated staying home. He had no friends that Nana knew of, though she had heard Daiki muttering about 'Tsuna's pesky little friends' once. He was helpful at home, but would always be called in detention for being 'uncooperative', usually by his P.E. teacher. He liked playing video games, watching anime, and listening to classical music. He played the guitar and the cello, but would always stop once someone came into the room.

But still, the fact remained that he didn't speak, and it bothered Nana more than she'd like to admit.

The two of them ignored each other when they can, or at least Tsuna did. Nana noticed that Daiki seemed set on antagonizing Tsuna at every turn, whether it be because of a missing sock or their status at school. He seemed keen on using Tsuna's lack of friends against him, and while Nana scolded him every time she caught him, Daiki didn't look like he was stopping anytime soon.

She sighed. Thinking about her son's hostile relationship often put a damper on her mood. She so wanted them to get along like brothers, because that was what they were.

And Tsuna, oh how she longed to hear her boy's beautiful voice once more. If—

A loud ring interrupted her thoughts.

"Dai-kun!" she called over her shoulders, covering the pot of curry to let it simmer. She started preparing the side dishes. "Will you get the door please?"

"Get Tsuna to do it," Daiki yelled back.

Nana gave an exasperated—annoyed, really—sigh. "Tsuna is busy washing the dishes _you_ were supposed to wash. Just get the door!"

There was a sound of scuffling coupled with an irritated grunt. Nana smiled in approval.

Beside him, Tsunayoshi had finished washing the last of the dishes and was wiping his hands on a cloth. He looked at Nana blankly, which she had interpreted as him asking if there was anything else he could do. Nana smiled at him fondly. "It's alright, Tsu-kun. I can handle this. You go and play or something."

Tsuna nodded and walked out. Nana had hoped he would come out to play with his friends—even though it was the middle of the night—but was disappointed when she heard his footsteps rising up the stairs to his room.

She sighed—again—just as Daiki came rushing in sporting a rather nasty bump on his head.

"Dai-kun, are you ok? What happened?"

Daiki said nothing and merely pointed behind him, from where a little baby wearing a suit as dark as night and a fedora came jumping out. Said baby landed with a thud on Daiki's injured head, making the boy groan in pain, followed by a series of expletives. Nana winced.

"Um, Dai-kun, who—"

"Ciassu."

The baby cut her off by flashing a poorly made flyer in front of her face. She brightened up immediately, clapping her hands excitedly. "Oh, are you—"

She was cut off once again. "My name is Reborn, I'm the home tutor."

"Wonderful!" Nana exclaimed and started talking about arrangements with the baby—baby!—tutor, completely ignoring Daiki's incredulous yell.

 _ **Somewhere**_ _,_ phones were ringing as a particular silver head rushed out of soon-to-be-exploding building, rattling off curses in about thirteen different languages to a guy several oceans away, telling him to _hurry up, damn it,_ because, _he's there!_ He hopped on a silver and red bike he found as he turned a corner and hotwired it within fifteen seconds. "He called me already, and I'm on my way to Japan." A bomb exploded in the distance. He let out another few choice words as sand got in his eyes. "Goddamn it!"

In front of a dark hospital room, Mukuro hung up without saying a word, his mismatched eyes focused solely on a girl with mauve hair laying on a bed, cords and tubes attached to her body, giving a few curses of his own, though this one was solely for himself.

He was late. And _he_ was early.

 _Goddamn it,_ indeed.

 **Hibari Kyouya** sat on the floor of his room, leaning on one knee as the other played with his choice of weapon—a silver tonfa. His second-in-command, Kusakabe Tetsuya sat kneeling outside of his open doors, giving his report. Hibari barely heard him as he listened to the birds singing their sweet music outside, but he knew what was said.

And what wasn't.

 _Tomorrow,_ would be interesting.

Wheels Turning

Morning came awfully fast for Sawada Daiki, who barely slept the night before, partially because of the pain on his head—the dastardly baby had a mean kick, or possibly metal on his shiny black shoes—but mainly because of the many nightmares that plagued his sleep, waking him up in intervals.

He didn't remember what they were about, but he had a nagging feeling it was important. A crucial part of him. A sharp pain invaded his chest at the thought, and, just like always, he tried to rack his brain for the details.

He came down for breakfast in a foul mood, not having been able to recover even a glimpse of the dreadful dream, filling him with frustration. Anger rose up his throat and before he could stop it, he found himself lashing on his brother once again. His brother who stolidly ignored his jabs, angering him more until he felt the now familiar urge to hurt something, anything. Or anyone.

With a cry, he rushed out of the house, startling Nana and Reborn, who took a second to think before he jumped down and followed the boy.

He found him a few blocks from school, in a dark alley, beating up a group of delinquents twice his size, who had the misfortune of being on his way that day. Reborn watched from his perch on a tree with interest. Sawada Daiki was strong, just like the files had said. Although he had a lot of flaws in his fighting style. He was also apparently hot-tempered, and hated his brother for reasons the spies from Vongola hadn't been able to find out.

Daiki threw a punch to the last standing delinquent that knocked him out cleanly. He growled in frustration, punching the wall nearest him. He was panting hard, his whole body covered in sweat and blood, his muscles sore. His bag was discarded somewhere in the chaos, and he set out to find it only after ten minutes of standing like a breathing statue to calm himself.

Tears stung his brown eyes and he wiped them furiously with the sleeves of his uniform.

When he came out of the alley, he was in a fresh pair of uniform, his wounds tended to and hid with remarkable skill—Reborn couldn't even laugh at the fact that the boy had make-up in his bag with the expert way he used it. There was no trace of pain on his smiling face, but while he managed to fool everyone else into thinking everything was alright with him, Reborn knew—Reborn saw—that that wasn't the case.

Reborn had felt it when he first saw the young boy, who looked startlingly similar to his great ancestor that Reborn had to double-back in surprise—which he made up with a sharp kick to the poor boy's head—but now he knew for sure.

There definitely was something wrong with Sawada Daiki.

For once, Hibari Kyouya wasn't biting latecomers to death in front of Namimori Middle's gates. Instead, the renowned prefect was in his office, watching everything that happened all over his town in his computer, courtesy of the CCTV access the police had kindly given him. But instead of watching the usual places, places occupied by the Yakuza and other criminal organization Hibari had taken over but often still rebelled against his leadership by causing trouble to his citizens, the raven-haired prefect was watching the footage of a fight near the school, particularly the lone brunet who ferociously defeated the bullies that approached him while he was running to school.

His smile was feral as he watched the almost mindless way the boy fought, brown eyes blazing in anger. His movements were sloppy and unpracticed, but he still knocked out his opponents one after another with amazing precision.

Hibari hummed in interest as the fight ended and the boy cleaned himself up, putting on a fresh pair of uniform from his bag and discarding the old, bloodied ones. He was even impressed when said boy walked out, looking perfectly normal, as if he didn't just beat a dozen people halfway to death in a dark alley.

That took skills, he should know.

He turned to Kusakabe, who was standing guard by the door. "Get me everything you can about this boy…" he paused for a second before his eyes caught something from the window. He stood to get a better look. His grin was pure evil. "…and his brother."

Reborn spent the rest of the day observing the Sawada twins, particularly Sawada Tsunayoshi, who, true to the information given to him, hadn't spoken one word to anyone. His teachers kept giving him mournful looks as he ignored every single question thrown his way, while his classmates rolled their eyes at his supposed 'stupidity'. Daiki had an arsenal of facial expression for every occasion, but Tsuna hadn't shown anything other than a blank face. He didn't even seem angry at the group of bullies that tried to take his lunch before Yamamoto Takeshi talked them out of it.

Yamamoto Takeshi was listed under the Sawada Tsunayoshi's friends. Unlike Daiki who had three pages' worth of friends and acquaintances, Tsuna only had a sum total of four known 'friends'. Yamamoto Takeshi, who was in all his classes; Sasagawa Kyoko, who was the school idol; Sasagawa Ryohei, Kyoko's brother and Captain of the Boxing Club, of which he was the only member; and Kurokowa Hana, Kyoko's best friend who hang around him from time to time despite her apparent dislike of the opposite gender which she called 'stupid monkeys'.

Tsuna was prone to bullies, but his friends, the two boys in particular, had managed to reduce them by half in the past year, although his association with him seemed to be the only reason he was being targeted. All four of them were incredibly popular, and Tsuna was considered the freak of the town.

Go figure.

Tsuna didn't seem like a fighter, which was probably the reason Iemitsu chose to put up his 'stronger' son for the inheritance. Reborn didn't see it that way, however. He could see merits in both boys, but they were so different it was simply not possible to compare the two of them. Daiki was charming and brilliant in everything he did. He had a ton of friends surrounding him and had great leadership skills. He inspired by being brilliant. He would make a good boss.

But Tsuna would have, too. From what he could tell in the way the Sasagawa siblings and Yamamoto acted around him, the three of them treated Tsuna like a well adored family member. They answered to his needs even without him saying anything and protected him at every turn. He had his own charisma that oozed out even when he didn't talk.

Anyone who looked closer would see that Tsuna would have made a good heir.

Too bad Iemitsu was so far.

Though, Reborn thought, looking at the twins eating quietly, Daiki glaring every few seconds at his stoic brother, maybe it was the right call. He remembered the way Daiki fought earlier that day. Daiki would fit right in with the Mafia.

Gokudera Hayato walked down the ramp, frowning. He was in Japan, and while he would have probably been in ecstasy about that fact any other time, right now he was just pissed. It was too early.

Gokudera didn't have ties with the Vongola at this time, but he had thought he would have heard in advance when the renowned hit man would travel down to meet his student. But no, Reborn moved way too fast, way too quiet. There wasn't even a hint that the Vongola was planning their movements. He wasn't even sure which the heir was of the two, and now he was called down to test him.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. "Hello," he snapped at the caller, not bothering to see who it was. He never named his contacts, and most of them used coded text messages to relay orders or information. Only one person he knew was too lazy to type. "Rokudo Mukuro."

He heard a familiar creepy laugh from the speaker. "Kufufu, you seem awfully cranky on this lovely day, Gokudera Hayato," Mukuro teased, though he didn't sound all that happy either.

Gokudera growled, startling the person in front of him. He pushed past the scandalized older woman to get his luggage, just a small black case with all his clothes and weapons hidden by metal detector-deflecting material. "I see nothing lovely about this day," he followed that statement with a few choice words in French. "What do you want?"

Mukuro chuckled again. Gokudera shivered at the sound. "I have news."

Gokudera tensed. "Good, bad or worse?"

Mukuro's next words lacked his trademark chuckle. "The worst. Sawada Daiki is the heir."

"Mother—"Gokudera sighed, suddenly exhausted. He realized he hadn't had a wink of sleep for the past three days what with all the preparations he had to make in order to take out that lowly Famiglia and then Reborn's announcement. And now this.

Mukuro's laugh was without humor. "You're quite right, there's nothing lovely about this day."

Gokudera had to lean against the glass panel. His legs felt like lead. He wanted to sleep, and maybe he would wake up in a world where everything was in its rightful place. "What now?"

Mukuro's sigh was imperceptible, though Gokudera's practiced ears still caught it over the speaker. "We proceed with the plan. I already have Chrome, and I sent both Ken and Chikusa to Italia earlier so they can observe and report if there's anything happening with the Family. We'll fly there as soon as Chrome is…able, to get the cow brat. You just do your thing there and we'll plan the next steps once we're together."

Gokudera didn't take orders from just anyone, but what Mukuro said wasn't an order. It something he had to do. So he hummed in approval and, after a quick goodbye to his sworn brother in everything but blood, he broke the phone in half.

He would buy a new one. Right now, he had to leave the goddamn airport and find a place to stay.

Tomorrow, he would make his move.

Reborn singled out Daiki after dinner to discuss important things. The boy seemed calm enough, especially since his brother was out of sight, which was imperative if he was to drop the bomb. Metaphorical, of course. The real ones would come later.

The boy looked at him skeptically from the bed. Reborn had himself perched over the boy's study table, eyes watching his every movement like a hawk. The boy's eyes went from Reborn to the locked door, and then to the open window. And then, just as Reborn was about to begin his story, Daiki started the questions.

"What are you, really?" he said, carefully, eyes darting to Reborn's crystal pacifier and to the window again. "You're not a child."

Reborn grinned. Perceptive, he liked it. He wondered if Tsuna noticed the same things.

"I'm the world's number one hit man, Reborn," he said as an opening. Daiki narrowed his eyes, said nothing. "I came here to teach you to become a great boss."

"Boss of what?" Daiki frowned. Reborn was somehow disappointed that the kid didn't act a bit more…surprised. He thought he would at least yell once, then he would show him his gun, or maybe detonate the bomb beneath his bed or—

"Boss of the Vongola Family. It's the largest, strongest, most influential Family in the world, and you are the heir to the Boss seat."

Daiki gritted his teeth. "How did that happen?"

"Well," Reborn stood and pulled out a sheet of paper from his breast pocket. Of course, it came out unwrinkled, since this was Reborn. "You see, the Vongola is a vigilante group founded by a man called Giotto around four hundred years ago. Or, maybe two hundred…ah, never mind. Anyway, he founded it and it grew in strength rather quickly, but for some reason he decided to leave it in the hands of his cousin, Ricardo, who turned it into a Mafia Famiglia. Then, Giotto came to Japan, changed his name into Sawada Ieyasu, got married and had a child who had a child who had a child who had a child…until your father, and then you. And Tsuna."

"So…Dad's descended from the founder? That makes me heir? Why not Tsuna?"

Reborn shrugged. "Your Father thought you were more suitable."

"But—"Daiki bit his lip. "This is the Mafia. They're…"

"Bad people. Criminals. Yeah, sure," Reborn smiled mockingly. This kid's reactions were completely boring. He wasn't even panicking. Or maybe the shock hadn't sunk in yet?

Daiki glared at him. "Why am I the heir? What happened to Ri—Ricardo's line?"

"The Ninth Boss, Timoteo, your grandfather, had three sons. All of them died mysterious deaths."

"How convenient," Daiki muttered, yawning. "I'll talk to you in the morning. I need to sleep." He laid down and was out like a light in seconds.

Reborn was sorely tempted to press a little red button in his pocket and blow him up.

Such a boring discussion.

Daiki woke up with a head ache. Well, actually, the headache came from the hard object that hit him on the face the moment he opened his eyes.

"What the—"he yelled, squinting his eyes to see Reborn in all his glory standing on his chest, holding a green mallet while grinning devilishly.

"Good morning," Reborn said cheerfully.

He was greeted with a series of foul language yelled to his face.

"At least I won't have to educate you in how to cuss properly," Reborn observed. "But that doesn't mean you can cuss at me."

Bam!

Daiki's headache intensified, the bump on his forehead tripled in size.

"Damn it!"

Reborn didn't allow Daiki to have breakfast. Instead, he had the boy run laps around Namimori at the crack of dawn before going directly to school. Along the way, Daiki met Sasagawa Ryohei who was running his own laps, screaming, "Extreme!" at every turn. Ryohei mistook him for Tsuna at first, and looked at Reborn a bit too closely for his comfort, but went on his merry way after making sure Daiki was sure he wasn't Tsuna.

Because apparently he could have forgotten somehow.

Next they ran into a young girl in a Midori Junior uniform, rushing to school while reading a book and reciting the history of Greece. She also looked at Reborn a bit too closely that he had to threaten her to get her off. Unfortunately for Daiki, seeing as Reborn was a 'lovely little boy' the little lady turned on him for corrupting the baby's 'innocent mind'.

Daiki scoffed and left her alone, continuing on his jog.

"Who was that girl?" Reborn asked after they were far away from the seething brunette, riding on Daiki's shoulder.

"Miura Haru," Daiki answered with distaste. "She's one of Tsuna's freaky friends."

Reborn raised an eyebrow in surprise. He didn't know that.

A few blocks from school, they met the shining Kyoko, who greeted them both cheerfully. Daiki greeted her back with a smile more genuine than any smile Reborn had ever seen him give to anyone. He took note of the shy way Daiki talked with her, and the innocent blush that slowly crept up his neck.

He grinned.

"Do you like her?" Reborn asked when Kyoko was out of earshot.

Daiki's red-faced snort was answer enough in itself. "W-w-what are you talking about?"

"Hmm. Have you confessed yet?"

"No!" Daiki shook his head, frowning. "Why would I when I don't even—"

"Then you should," Reborn said, not letting him finish. He held a green gun on his hand and pointed it to Daiki's head. "Go die once."

He pulled the trigger.

Gokudera didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this. He leaned on the tree he was hiding from, eyes focused on the boy with orange flames on his forehead, his hands fisted. The boy growled a ferocious yell, his clothes disintegrating down to his boxers, before he ran away with inhuman speed to the direction of the school, a baby with a fedora hopping after him.

Gokudera punched the tree, which gave under his strength, his heart constricting inside his chest.

He didn't count on the twin to look like him.

How was he supposed to hurt him when he—

"I can't do this," he gasped, slumping down on the ground, cradling his head inside his hands. His many rings dug into his skin but he barely felt it. "I can't do this."

"But you have to," a familiar voice said. He looked up to see his best friend, his brother standing in front of him, wearing his usual, goofy smile. "It's alright, Hayato. I'm here."

If he expected Gokudera to act all sappy on him, Yamamoto was sorely disappointed. In all Gokudera-manner, the silver head cursed him out. "You bastard, how long have you been awake?"

Yamamoto laughed. "Awhile…"

The outburst that followed was expected. Gokudera stood up and, in a flash, had Yamamoto by the throat. "And you didn't think to tell us?!"

The raven-haired boy shrugged—as much as he could while held up by the throat, anyway. "Neither of us were exactly techno-savvy, Hayato. We don't exactly know how to reach you."

"Then you should've—wait," Gokudera frowned, his hold loosening. "'We'?"

Yamamoto nodded, gesturing behind them. Gokudera let go of his neck and turned around.

He was greeted 'extremely', for lack of better word.

"Ack! Geroff me!"

Sasagawa tackled him in a hug—normal people called it a choke-hold, but none of them were exactly normal—yelling out an "Extremely nice to see you again, Octopus-head!"

"Get off me, stupid Lawn-head!" Gokudera yelled back, elbowing the boxer in the ribs. It didn't hurt much—despite what Gokudera thought, his strength laid in archery, guns and strategy. His physical strength was puny. But Sasagawa Ryohei let go, anyway. It wouldn't do to kill one of his brothers anyway.

At least, not when he just met him after a long, long time.

Gokudera glared at them both, rubbing his sore neck. He growled. "How are both of you awake, anyway? I have your gears." He tossed them each an elaborate box in blue and yellow. "And what of Hibari?"

Yamamoto brightened up considerably, catching the blue on in his hands. "Woah! You have this? I was wondering where it was." He opened the lock to see a familiar necklace inside. He beamed, "Jirou! Kojirou! I missed you!"

Ryohei's reaction was pretty much the same, except his was more on the extreme side. "Kangaryuu! I missed you to the extreme!"

Gokudera rolled his eyes. "Don't go letting your animals out now, someone could see," he warned. The resulting long faces made him want to puke. "Seriously, you guys never change," he shook his head with a fond smile.

Both smiled back. "You haven't changed, either, Hayato," Yamamoto claimed.

"Yeah, that's right! You're still extremely weak!"

"What did you say?!"

The resulting fight was chaotic. Yamamoto shook his head, smiling fondly while sending cautious glances at the direction of the school. Trees fell in the onslaught of bombs. He sighed.

"Jirou! Kojirou!" he called, activating his gear with a charge of Rain Flames.

He wouldn't be able to stop them from fighting, not without his sword, but maybe he could stop the occurrence of forest fire. He laid out a blanket of soothing blue Flames around the two, and sat back to wait.

He guessed this was a good enough way as any to get Hibari.

He laughed. How nostalgic.

When he saw the half-naked boy running off to the river, yelling out with orange fire on his head, Hibari knew, he just knew that his days were about to get more exciting than ever.

He wasn't disappointed when he spied explosions in the nearby forest park.

One, two, three, he counted. Three colored flames, and a Sky.

Now the wheels are turning. Which ones to bite first, he wondered…

Well, when in doubt, look to the sky, wasn't it?

He wondered why that thought seemed to squeeze his stone-cold heart.

2\. Evil Intents

Miura Haru was a bright, cheerful girl who had a penchant for liking the most ridiculous things. Mythical monsters, violent and threatening babies, flaming boys and the like. The most normal out of them was probably the boy, except 'flaming' didn't mean hot in the metaphorical sense.

It meant he was on fire. Literally.

Okay, maybe that wasn't really normal at all.

It was fate, Haru believed. Haru met Sawada Tsunayoshi when she was ten, around three years ago. Haru's family was originally from Tokyo, but when Haru's Father got an offer from the local university, they decided to get back to his hometown, and live in his old, abandoned house. Haru didn't like it, but Haru's nothing if not positive so Haru went about with her days looking for anything to like in this small town.

That day, Haru went to the river to play.

And he was there.

He was alone, watching the river flow gently under the bridge, his face blank. He looked to Haru when Haru approached, but didn't smile back when Haru did. He didn't say hi, when Haru did. Haru was confused. Haru's parents always told her to be kind and friendly and polite, but what was Haru supposed to do when someone was ignoring Haru?

Haru saw him look up to the sky, and, for some reason, Haru's heart ached. Tears welled from Haru's eyes, and Haru ran to sit beside the boy, hugging him close.

He was surprised, but he didn't push Haru away.

"Are you sad? Did your dog die?" Haru asked, wiping her eyes on the boy's sleeve.

The carefully blank face broke and he looked at Haru with a conflicted look. His face looked sad, but at the same time he looked amused.

Haru frowned. Are all boys this confusing?

"Are you ok?"

The boy smiled at Haru this time, his whole face brightening up. Haru beamed back at him. So, he just needed a hug! "I'm Haru! Miura Haru! My name means spring, what's yours?"

He said, "Sawada Tsunayoshi. It means 'lucky rope'."

Haru frowned at him with big, brown eyes. "Lucky rope?"

The boy nodded. "Yes, lucky rope. One day, I will meet many people who would love me and I would love them back the same. They won't be getting along most of the time, but I will be the rope that would tie them all together."

Haru smiled. "That's nice. Can I be one of them?"

"You already are."

Ever since that day, Haru and Tsuna always met up by the river, talking and playing. It was mostly Haru who did the talking, and Haru talked about a lot of things: school, Haru's friends, Tokyo, Haru's parents, the cartoon characters Haru liked, the future… Tsuna was a good listener. He rarely spoke, and would only smile and nod at Haru in turns, but Haru liked him all the same.

He was nice.

One day, Haru decided to be bold and stand at the railings of the bridge. Tsuna indulged Haru with a smile, although he did look a tad bit worried. Haru reassured him brightly, "Haru's part of the Gymnast Club, Haru's going to be fine." Still, Tsuna remained close by, at arm's length should Haru fall. Haru thought it was sweet of him, even though his legs looked barely able to hold up his own weight.

Haru climbed up with ease, and before long Haru was balancing on the thin metal frame, smiling down at Tsuna. Haru stood there without incident, feeling the rush of river breeze on her face. But then someone yelled Tsuna's name, which startled them both. Tsuna looked away to see his brother rushing to them from the end of the bridge, and he didn't see how Haru lost her balance and tried to call for his help.

Haru fell down screaming.

That was the first time Haru saw the side of Tsuna that he kept hidden from the world. In a flash, he was jumping down after Haru, his eyes a molten amber color and his hair on fire. He held Haru's body close underwater and waded them both determinedly to the shore. Their bond was sealed tight that day, with river water and seaweed on their clothes, eyes wide in amazement and fear.

Haru had never felt safer than when she was in the young boy's frail, but strong arms, their faces close so Haru could feel the warmth of his flames on her face. But while Tsuna chose not to notice, Haru wouldn't ever forget the menacing gaze Tsuna's brother gave them both from on top of the bridge.

Today, Haru felt the same gaze stuck on her. Except this time it wasn't from a hundred meters away, but burned right in front of her as hands flew to her neck, choking the air out of her.

Haru had wished before that if she died, she wanted the last face she saw to be Tsuna's.

Maybe this was some twisted answer to her request.

They really do look the same, was what she thought before darkness engulfed her, sending her spiraling down…somewhere.

Reborn rarely, if ever, made any mistakes. In his way of life, a single mistake could cost his life, after all. He could count in his hands the number of times he made careless mistakes. Each one brought about a huge disaster he couldn't have seen coming, even with all his skills in predicting the future. But even he knew from the moment he pulled the trigger that he shouldn't have, he should have waited, should have learned more before jumping to conclusions…

The girl shouldn't have died.

It was his mistake. The girl paid for it.

It happened fast, way too fast, that by the time he even thought to interfere, the girl's head had already lolled to the side, her neck broken cleanly in half. Daiki stood over her dead body, face ashen and eyes wide. He panted, dropped to his knees and cradled his face. Then he let out a wail that Reborn wouldn't ever forget in his entire life.

People were surrounding them now, talking and pointing with not one stepping close to try and save the girl. Not that they could. Reborn heard the crack, and he knew the moment it happened that her heart had stopped beating right after. If anyone touched her now, she would still be warm, but it wouldn't change the fact that she was dead.

Killed.

Murdered in cold blood.

Hibari Kyouya felt bile rise up his throat. An unfamiliar sensation. He had seen more than his fair share of dead people, even helped kill some on his own, but seeing the dead body of the girl, not more than a couple of years younger than him, in front of the half-naked boy who was most likely her killer…

It made him feel things.

It wasn't pleasant.

Should've gone right away. Maybe he could have—

So he did what he usually did and attacked the boy. Kusakabe and his team had already dispersed the crowd and was in the process of lifting the body onto a stretcher to send to the hospital. His silver eyes were wide with anger, his blows fast, precise and deadly. The boy took it all standing, not retaliating in the least. Hibari frowned in disgust at the tears the fell down the boy's cheeks.

How dare he?!

Should've gone faster.

Beating up no-good delinquents were one thing, but killing a girl—a girl!—in broad daylight was another. He had no right to cry.

How dare he?!

He should've ran faster.

A small but forceful hand stopped his tonfa just as it was about to land on the bastard's jaw, and Hibari looked down to see a grim-looking child in an immaculate suit pointing a gun at him. "I won't let you kill him," the baby said. "This was a mistake."

Yes, you shouldn't have let him out of your sight for even a second.

"This is murder," Hibari ground out, stepping back to face the obviously carnivorous child squarely.

The child gave him a hooded stare. "Have you never killed before?"

The prefect's grin was sly and mocking. "Not in broad daylight. And certainly not a law-abiding schoolgirl."

Reborn sighed, even he hadn't done that. Well, the second one anyway. "I'll let you beat him up all you like, but I won't let you kill him." He's still my student. The heir.

"And what makes you think I'll let you stop me?" was the arrogant answer.

He should be punished. He should be—

In an instant, Reborn was behind Hibari, the barrel of his gun touching the prefect's neck. "Because I'm stronger than you."

A soft voice whispered in his ears, 'Death, is not always the answer, Kyouya.'

Hibari clenched his jaw and walked away. "I think I'll let his brother decide that."

Reborn sighed again, looking at his half-dead student. "How problematic."

What's really happening here? How could your chosen heir be this murderous, Timoteo?

Transforming Leon into a cellphone, he typed in a few words and sent it to the old man in Italy. He's no better than Xanxus. R.

Yamamoto came late for school. He had to drag both Ryohei and Hayato away from each other when it became apparent that Hibari wasn't coming to neutralize them. He wondered why, but there were more pressing matters.

Tsuna, for instance. And his apparently missing brother.

He sat on his desk beside the brown-haired boy, noticing his frown. "Where's your brother?" he asked softly.

Tsuna answered with a shake of his head.

Yamamoto bit his lip and looked out the window. His instincts were telling him there was something wrong, but he didn't know what. Gokudera seemed to have felt it too and came rushing off once he got the boxer off of him, foregoing his mission for another day. Ryohei skipped school to investigate too, and Yamamoto was left to protect Tsuna.

Class started, but it wasn't even minutes when Sasagawa Ryohei came running inside, yelling for Tsuna. Both Yamamoto and the small brunet snapped up and was out before the teacher could say anything.

"What happened?" Yamamoto yelled, the air brushing his ears barely allowing him to hear himself. The three of them were running at full speed.

Ryohei's face was dark and angry. "Haru's dead."

Tsuna tripped.

"What?" he spoke, his voice hoarse from lack of use. Part of Yamamoto rejoiced at hearing his voice after so long, but he also mourned the circumstances that made him speak out.

"How?" Yamamoto asked, subtly letting a wash of Rain Flames blanket all three of them.

Ryohei's breathing calmed down visibly. He looked away before the pain in his eyes became entirely visible. Tsuna and Yamamoto saw it anyway. "She was—she was—"he let out a furious growl. "She was killed."

Tsuna's lips quivered. "B-b-b-but—"

"Who?" Yamamoto said darkly.

The answer killed them all inside. "Daiki."

"Oh, God," Tsuna gasped, slumping on the ground, his head cradled in his hands. "No, no, no. No. That's—that's—"

"I'm—"Ryohei sniffed. "I'm sorry Tsuna."

Yamamoto increased the Rain Flames he showered them with. With barely restrained anger, he said, "Let's go. She needs us."

"Yes," Ryohei agreed, kneeling down in front of Tsuna. "She needs us, Sawada."

She needs you.

Hibari waited impatiently in front of the hospital morgue, scaring the hospital staff so much no one dared step within a hundred foot of him. A couple doctors have approached him to tell him they needed to work on the girl's body, to prepare her for the funeral, but they were met with a fierce gaze. They scurried off, fearing their own lives.

Hibari was about to call Kusakabe and let the man drag the damn brunet in front of him when said brunet came running in, planked by two of his friends. His eyes were swollen and red-rimmed.

"The girl, Miura Haru, is your friend, yeah?" Hibari said by way of greeting.

Tsuna nodded, looking down.

Hibari smirked darkly. "I'll let you have free reign on your brother's punishment then." He turned to walk away, his coat billowing behind him.

He stopped at Tsuna's soft call. "Did—did he really—"

"Do you doubt it?" Hibari called over his shoulder. "Did you not know what he was capable of?"

"I—"Tsuna opened his mouth to speak but no words that made sense, no excuse that was acceptable came out. His head hung down. "This is my fault."

"No," Yamamoto declared fiercely. "You're never at fault, Tsuna."

"Yeah," Ryohei agreed. "It's not your fault he's—he's—"

Hibari's chuckle was nothing less than mocking. "How devoted."

Then he was gone.

It was the middle of the night when Timoteo di Vongola called all his Guardians for an emergency meeting. It didn't matter that most of them were in the middle of an important mission, or a gunfight. Even Iemitsu was called on from Venice and he had to cancel the negotiations with another Family.

When they were all together inside a secure meeting room, Timoteo said the most ridiculous shit ever.

"I'm going to Japan with Iemitsu," he said.

Coyote Nougat, Ninth Generation Storm Guardian frowned. "What are you playing at, you senile old man?"

Timoteo gave him a sideways glance. "Do take care of the Family while I'm away, Coyote."

Coyote growled in true storm-like fashion. "I have no time for your cryptic orders, Timoteo. Tell us why."

Timoteo sighed and looked intently at Iemitsu who fidgeted under his stare. "Did I do anything wrong?" Did he figure out how I sent Lal Mirch in all the meeting's I'm supposed to attend because I was too busy ogling a photo of my wife?

"There seems to be a problem with your sons, Iemitsu. Reborn needs us there to fix it."

All eyes turned on him. Iemitsu blanched. "What kind of—"

"Your son killed a civilian. Reborn shot him with the Dying Will Bullet thinking he would go confess to a pretty girl he seemed to have a crush with, but instead he broke another girl's neck."

Iemitsu's face was as pale as a blank sheet of paper. "W-w-which son?"

"The younger one."

"Reborn didn't stop him?" the Ninth Cloud Guardian asked.

Timoteo shook his head. "You know as well as I do how fast, and easy it is to break a young one's neck, Visconti. And his speed and strength was enhanced by the bullet's properties."

"Huh," Coyote Nougat huffed. "When are you leaving?"

Timoteo's face was that of a tired old man. "Now."

Daiki was different. He knew that. Even when he was a child, he lamented that fact. It wasn't that he wanted to be normal like everyone else. No. He didn't care about that. He only cared that he wasn't like Tsuna in any way but his face.

He loved his face. It was the only thing he had in common with Tsuna, even when they were both children. Tsuna was always filled with light. So bright and pretty. His smile made others smile too. His smile made Daiki smile.

Daiki loved Tsuna.

But Tsuna…Tsuna didn't like Daiki.

It was because Daiki was different. He had this, this something inside of him, and sometimes he would feel like a passenger in his own body while another entity took the reins. During those times, the way Tsuna looked at him made Daiki want to cry. Or hurt someone. Often, he would end up in an alley surrounded by dead, or half-dead bodies, their blood splashed against his clothes.

Daiki didn't like hurting people. When he did that, Tsuna grew farther and farther away from him. But he couldn't stop, he just got so angry, so sad, so lonely, he had to take it out somewhere.

He didn't want to hurt—kill, Haru. Haru was a nice girl. Tsuna liked her. Daiki liked her too. He actually liked her more than he liked Kyoko, because she was both smart and pretty. He just didn't like how, like Tsuna, she seemed to dislike him too.

Why? What was so wrong with him?

What was inside him?

He was shot and he died, and he came out. Stronger, fiercer. He craved blood, and he got it.

He could still feel Haru's soft neck on his hands.

Breaking it was as easy as breaking a twig. And her eyes…

Daiki puked.

He would never forget her eyes while he took her life from her.

Hibari Kyouya came to his office to find a silver-haired European kid sitting on his chair.

He growled, but before he could say any threatening remark, a small silver thing flew towards him. He caught it in his hands, eyes narrowed. It was a bracelet. It felt familiar in his hands. He remembered dreaming of it once, along with a canary that sung Namimori's anthem.

He liked that canary. What was it called..?

"Hibird!" a small, brown-haired girl chirped happily. "That's his name!"

He frowned. Why was he seeing a dead girl in his memories?

Gokudera gave him a blank stare. "The memories may take a while to get back completely, but don't doubt they're true. The plan's all wrong now, and we need you more than ever, Kyouya."

Kyouya watched as the silver-haired boy jumped out the window.

His memories flowed.

Gokudera Hayato walked with sure steps inside the morgue where Haru's body was. Around her surrounded by tense silence were three of his brothers, including his Boss. In the flesh. He rejoiced quietly, it felt good to be reunited with him. And soon they will be complete. But he could feel the palpable anger beating like a heart in the room, one his own heart echoed.

This wasn't a happy occasion.

He approached soundlessly, knowing they could feel him anyway. "I got to Hibari," he said.

Three curt nods were sent his way, but no one else said anything.

They stood there in silence before Tsuna opened his mouth to speak. "Can we save her?"

Gokudera, ever the loyal right hand, answered, "I'm not sure, but it may be possible. Have any of you spoke with him, yet?"

Tsuna nodded. "I did, once I…remembered. He told me to be careful."

Ryohei's frown was scolding. "This is not your fault, Tsuna."

"Isn't it?" Tsuna sobbed. "The only reason he killed her is because—"

"Tsuna," Yamamoto softly voiced. "Haru wouldn't have blamed you."

Tsuna's glare was sharp, and pained. They all knew who it was directed to. "Well, someone has to!" he snapped. "If I—if I—"he sobbed loudly, slumping beside the bed. His hands caught Haru's cold one. "It's my fault."

Gokudera's heart broke, but he pushed all thoughts of pain and blame away. "No one but you thinks that, Tenth," he said. "And we have no way of convincing you otherwise. You've always been stubborn."

Yamamoto glared at him, but Gokudera kept on. "But letting that guilt take over you won't get her back. We need to move. Mukuro and Chrome are on the way here with Lambo and Hibari's waking up, already. Isn't that the plan? We can't let one death stop us here, Tenth."

"This one death is Haru!" Tsuna yelled. His voice fell to a whisper, "Haru…"

Gokudera's eyes softened. "I know. We all know, Tsuna. We know you love her, and we love her too," Gokudera gulped down the sob that threatened to escape. "You know I love her, too. But we can't grieve right now. We don't have time. Daiki has gotten worse. We need to move, and we need you.

"We need you to lead us...Boss."

Daiki woke up in an unfamiliar bed. His entire body was sore, his nerves tingling with ever movement, but when he looked down at his bare arms and chest, there was no sign at all of the wounds Hibari Kyouya inflicted him.

Maybe it was all a dream, a hopeful part of him whispered, but fate had never been kind to him, because when he turned his head he found a newspaper laying on the side table, Haru's entirely dead face laid out on the page while beside her an image of a wailing boy was painted.

He recognized his face.

Tsuna's face.

What would Tsuna think of him when he found out Daiki killed the girl…the girl they both love?

A faded memory made its way to the surface of Daiki's mind. It was the first time he met her. That day, Daiki and Tsuna had had a fight about something silly—he didn't even remember—and Daiki ran out to stop himself from hurting his brother, or worse, his mother. He found himself in another alley, beating up the bullies that tried to intimidate him into giving them money. He came out dirty and bloody and disgusting…right to his very core.

His own skin had disgusted him.

He hated himself.

Then she had appeared in front of him, looking very much like an angel…white wings fluttering behind her back. Her wide brown eyes looked at him with concern, asking, "Are you ok?"

"I—"

"Daiki," a voice croaked. Daiki came out of his reverie to see Reborn entering the room, his gaze carefully blank. "We need to talk."

Daiki was calm, calmer than he had been in years. The monster in him had craved blood and taken it, and for now it was pacified. Daiki was calm. Right now, he was no danger to anyone, except perhaps for himself.

"Daiki, are you aware of what you did?" Reborn asked, his tone flat.

Daiki wanted to resent him, it felt like the baby's dark eyes were made specifically to mock him. But it seemed like all the anger had been flushed out of his system in that earlier…rampage. And now there was nothing left. He was empty.

He nodded.

"Will you tell me why you did it?"

Daiki shook his head. "I don't know. I was just—"

"Angry?" Reborn supplied. He hopped on the bed to get closer to the boy. "Daiki, do you know what happened?"

Daiki's tears were molten fire on his skin. "I killed her."

"Yes," Reborn affirmed. "I shot you with a special bullet. It's called the Dying Will Bullet, and when shot to the forehead, it kills a person instantly. However, if the person shot had any regrets as he died, he would revive to fulfill those regrets."

Daiki was horrified. "What? Why would—"

"I had assumed your regret would be that you haven't confessed to Kyoko, I was wrong. But I still want to know why you specifically looked for Miura Haru. Did you hate her?"

The answer was immediate. "No! I—"he looked down at his hands, hands that were wrapped around her neck, choking her, killing her…

"Then, what was she to you?"

"She," he started, his gaze staring forlornly at his hands, "she was…a friend."

Reborn sighed, cursed under his breath. Daiki had no hostility for her. In fact, it seemed like he had feelings for the girl.

But then, why?

Reborn knew Daiki had a nasty temper, and had come close to killing before, but he hadn't. Miura Haru was the first one. Reborn had investigated her background and found nothing extraordinary except for her grades. She was from a normal household, a normal family that left Tokyo to settle for a more slow-paced town life.

But wasn't she Tsuna's friend, as Daiki said? How come Vongola's spies didn't find out about it? They listed four, and while all four were from the same school, neither were they openly hanging around the brunet, as far as he could see. And that Hibari Kyouya seemed to take personal offense at what happened, despite having no known connection to the girl.

Damn it, what's happening here?


End file.
